Reading the reviews of Arlington’s first proportional ranked choice voting election

Last week, Arlington held Virginia’s first government-run ranked choice voting (RCV) election, in its County Board Democratic primary. FairVote’s analysis of the results is available here. 

Major local news outlets The Washington Post and WAMU/DCist covered the contest and spoke with many voters, election officials, and candidates to get their take on how the election went. 

The reviews are in: Folks at all levels felt the process worked! Below is a selection of excerpts from both stories.

In DCist :

One hundred percent [of voters] pretty much said it was easy to do.

– Chris DeRosa, Arlington resident and League of Women Voters activist

DeRosa credited what she called an ‘outstanding push’ from Arlington elections officials and ranked choice voting advocates to educate voters about the new voting method.

DeRosa, with the League of Women Voters, said she believes the tone of the campaign was more positive and ‘cordial’ because political attacks might alienate the supporters of other candidates. ‘Several candidates seemed to understand that they were asking for first choice votes, but also telling the voters, ‘Please consider me as your second or third choice,’ she said.

So far, few obvious problems with the process have come to light. Voters reported few issues at the polls in filling out their ballots.

In the Washington Post:

Both [winning] candidates praised the ranked-choice system, noting that it gave representation to two camps of a community that had been split on [housing policy].

There are two different constituencies that came out and voted and had two different sets of priorities, but both groups get someone to represent them on the board.

– Winning candidate Maureen Coffey, praising RCV

It was clear. It was not confusing […] It’s not difficult if you know the person who you’re going to vote for.

– Anawar Munshi, Arlington voter

It does seem like the two camps on [Arlington’s housing policy] are pretty split closer than people expected. In the old system, it looks likely that you could have ended up with two candidates from one camp getting both seats.

– Liz White, executive director of UpVote Virginia

Liz White… pointed out that the Arlington registrar’s office had received no complaints about the system on Election Day.

Finally, a Post interview with newly naturalized citizen Mahmuda Happy provided a valuable reminder for voters, reformers, and elected officials alike: “‘It’s the first time [I’ve voted],’ she said. ‘I have nothing to compare it to.’” 

Many of us may feel stuck with our single-choice election system – and all the associated problems – because it is the status quo. Yet it need not be: For voters like Mahmuda (and hopefully future generations), voting can simply mean ranking – as it already does in countries like Australia and Ireland.  

But for now, thanks to the hard work of countless volunteers, activists, and election officials, Arlington’s first use of ranked choice voting went just as smoothly as any single-choice election – and with better choices for voters and more representative results. 

Hopefully, Arlington voters’ satisfaction with this pilot will encourage other jurisdictions across Virginia to follow in its footsteps!