On May 28, the Philadelphia City Council passed a resolution in support of ranked choice voting (RCV), with 15 members voting in favor and only one opposed. Specifically, the resolution calls on Pennsylvania’s General Assembly to pass a law letting cities and counties use RCV in their local elections. You can read the resolution here.

The vote marks a significant milestone for ranked choice voting in the Keystone State, where advocates have spent years building support for a “local option” bill that would give cities and counties the ability to use RCV.

Why Philadelphia needs ranked choice voting

In Philadelphia’s choose-one Democratic primaries – which are effectively the general election in this deep-blue city – crowded fields routinely lead to winners without majority support. Notably:

• In the 2007 primary, Michael Nutter won with just 37% of the vote in a seven-candidate field. 
• In the 2023 primary, Cherelle Parker won with just 33% of the vote in a nine-candidate field.

Both Nutter and Parker went on to easily win their general elections.

When a majority of voters choose someone other than the winner, it risks weakening the winner’s mandate to lead. As Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas wrote before the 2023 primary:

With so many competing camps full of fervent supporters, there’s bound to be a lot of unhappy people after the primary election results are announced.

And as political consultant Mustafa Rashed noted, many voters felt pressure to vote strategically, rather than vote for their favorite candidate:

People vote for who they think will win, not who could win if people could vote for them without fear of throwing their vote away.

Ranked choice voting solves both problems. Voters rank the candidates in order of preference, and if their top choice can’t win, their vote counts for their next choice. This means voters can cast their ballots honestly, and winners have support from a majority of voters – giving the winners a stronger mandate to lead.

Philadelphia voters want ranked choice voting

Philadelphia voters are ready for ranked choice voting. In a 2023 SurveyUSA poll, 53% of likely Democratic primary voters supported using RCV in the city’s local elections, with just 22% opposed. And ahead of the City Council vote, several Philadelphians spoke in support of the RCV resolution during the public comment period:

Ranked choice voting is a national best practice. Where it has been enacted across the United States… it has worked.

– Dr. Jay Arzu

I stopped by city council members’ offices today, and they were excited about ranked choice voting… Ranked choice voting will help reluctant voters move off the fence and into the polls. Why? More choices.

– Jayson Massey

Studies have shown that where ranked choice voting exists, voter enthusiasm goes up and voter turnout is increased.

– Rose Johnson

You have the important opportunity today to stand up for voters’ rights to express their true preferences and decide between all their options for themselves at the ballot box rather than lose most of their choices in the run-up to the election.

– Ethan Blackwood

Pennsylvania law currently does not give cities and counties the authority to adopt RCV on their own, so action from the legislature is essential. The Council resolution sends a clear message to lawmakers in Harrisburg that Pennsylvania’s largest city wants this change.

What comes next

Now, efforts to advance RCV move to the state capitol. A local options bill would allow cities like Philadelphia to implement RCV if they want it – a pragmatic and locally driven path forward that has worked in other states, like Virginia and Colorado.

Want to help the RCV movement in Pennsylvania? Sign up with MarchOnHarrisburg to get involved and make your voice heard.