Los Angeles moves toward ranked choice voting

Avram Reisman | 

In a 10-1 vote on Thursday, the Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission recommended that the city adopt ranked choice voting (RCV) to elect its mayor, City Council, and other city offices beginning in 2032. (The Commission voted to recommend a series of government reforms, such as expanding the size of the City Council.)

This vote is a crucial step toward empowering voters in the nation’s 2nd-largest city. The Commission’s recommendations now go to the City Council for approval. The Council will decide by the end of July whether to put the recommendations on the November ballot. 

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If RCV is put on the ballot and approved by voters, Los Angeles would eliminate its current voting method – an all-candidate spring primary and November runoff – to a single RCV election. As former Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein said:

Ranked choice voting allows voters to express their preferences over more than one candidate, it gets rid of the spoiler issue and gives voters a much greater voice…. It also saves money because the city is required to conduct one election instead of a primary and runoff elections.

In addition to recommending the adoption of RCV, the Commission described steps for smooth and successful implementation, including robust voter education and language accessibility provisions. RCV is already used in the nation’s largest city and the most populous cities in six states; Los Angeles could join this group. 

Election reform advocates in Los Angeles hope the Council will also consider placing the multi-winner, proportional form of RCV on the ballot. This reform lets different groups of voters elect winners in proportion to their share of the votes cast – ensuring fair representation for different ideological groups and voters of color no matter how district lines are drawn. It is currently used in cities such as Portland, OR; Albany, CA; and Cambridge, MA.

The LA RCV Coalition (led by California RCV’s Marcela Miranda-Prieto) and More Equitable Democracy have been leading the charge for better elections with RCV in Los Angeles.