Gotham Gazette

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ranked-choice voting

ranked-choice voting

  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Breaking Down the Consequential Questions on Your Ballot

    Rachel Bloom and Susan Lerner

    (photo: @Gothamgazette)


    October 23, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The Consequential Questions on Your Ballot

    rb sl podcastThere are 5 consequential questions on the New York City ballot this fall, each of which poses changes to city elections or governance for "yes" or "no" reponses from voters. Two leading goverment reform experts -- Susan Lerner of Common Cause NY and Rachel

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  • The Candidate That Wins Should Get At Least Half The Votes

    attends cojo patbudexpoatguild

    (photo: City Council)


    Suppose eight candidates are running for Mayor or a City Council seat or another New York City office. On election night, the results are extremely close: The top candidate gets 29% of the vote, and the second 28%. Even though 70% of voters picked someone else, a candidate with less than one-third of the votes will become the elected representative of 100% of the office’s jurisdiction. 

    This situation may seem unlikely, but it’s precisely what happened in a 2013 special election for New York City

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  • Counting Votes So They Really Count

    op ed rankchoice

    (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayoral Photo Office)


    I am usually in agreement with the analysis and opinions of Bruce Gyory, a prolific pundit and consultant who writes on New York City and State government and political affairs. 

    But I must disagree with his op-ed in the Daily News last week, urging New York City voters to reject city charter revision proposal #1 on the fall ballot, which would

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  • Ranked-Choice Voting is the Next Step in New York Voter Empowerment

     rcv ricky


    At Empire State Indivisible, lowering the barriers to engage in our representative democracy has always been the guiding light for our organizing efforts. It is why, in coalition with grassroots organizers across the state, we fought so hard to engage voters to defeat the former members of the Independent Democratic Conference and then to elect a true Democratic state Senate majority in Albany. And it is why we continue to work so closely with allies to deliver critical voting and campaign finance reforms at the state level. Simply put: we need to expand the electorate and strengthen our representation

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  • 2019 Charter Revision Commission Seeks to 'Tweak,' Not Upend City Balance of Power

    abny better

    Carl Weisbrod, left, and Gail Benjamin


    A series of proposals on the ballot before New Yorkers this fall is meant to revisit city political power dynamics established after the 1989 Charter Revision Commission, which 30 years ago reshaped New York City government into its current form. That is what Gail Benjamin and Carl Weisbrod, two leaders of the 2019 Charter Revision Commission, said during a Wednesday morning discussion hosted by the Association for a Better New York and Citizens Union at the New School.

    From the early voting period of October 26

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  • Push Launched to Get Voters to Choose Ranked-Choice Voting

    yesone1 commoncause

    (photo: @commoncauseny)


    A coalition of elected officials, business and labor leaders, and reform groups gathered Thursday in Lower Manhattan to launch a campaign to convince New York City voters to change the way they elect their representatives in city government.

    Voters in New York City this fall will have the opportunity to approve ballot referenda on a number of reforms to the City Charter, including a new election system known as “ranked-choice voting.” The new system would allow voters in primary and special elections -- but not general elections -- to

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  • Charter Revision Commission Gives Final Approval to 19 Proposals in 5 Questions to Appear on Fall Ballot

    voting election

    (photo: Mihael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    The 2019 New York City Charter Revision Commission held its final meeting at City Hall in July to officially approve the language of 19 ballot proposals that will be put before voters for the November 5 general election. (The commission dropped a proposal related to units of appropriation in the city budget, which had earlier been approved for inclusion.)

    The meeting concluded a year of

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  • Charter Revision Commission Approves 17 Proposals for November Ballot

    build lc charter2019nyc

    (photo: @Charter2019NYC)


    After a nine months-long process of public hearings, private meetings, and spirited discussion, the 2019 Charter Revision Commission approved 17 proposals for the November ballot on Wednesday evening.

    Commission staff will draft ballot language for these proposals and the commission will take a final vote to approve the proposals on July 24. It will have one more meeting - on Tuesday, June 18 - to discuss adding other proposals to the list.

    Potential changes to the city’s central governing laws

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  • Spirited Discussion Anticipated as Charter Revision Commission Finalizes Ballot Proposals

    mbdb chirlane publib

    (photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)


    The 2019 Charter Revision Commission is set to hold one, perhaps two, public meetings to decide on what changes to city governance and elections it will propose to New Yorkers on the November ballot. The first of the potentially two meetings will be Wednesday night at City Hall, where the 15 commissioners, appointed by various local elected officials, will attempt to agree on which proposals to instruct staff to craft ballot questions around.

    They are mostly working off of the “preliminary staff report,” ...

  • Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Public Advocate's Office, Law Department, Ranked-Choice Voting

    charter2019nyc pub adv

    (photo: @Charter2019NYC)


    Three former New York City Public Advocates argued for strengthening the powers of the office. Former and current Law Department officials defended the agency’s independence. Experts on city government argued for and against expanding the powers of non-mayoral elected officials. And a Board of Elections official detailed the logistics of implementing ranked-choice voting in New York City.

    Those were the broad themes of a Monday night hearing held at the City Council chambers by the 2019 Charter Revision Commission,

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  • Charter Revision Commission Hears Expert Testimony on Voting, Redistricting and Campaign Finance Reform

    de blasio voting election day

    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    On Monday, the 2019 Charter Revision Commission heard from election experts from across the country as commissioners consider three potential election-related alterations to the city charter: ranked-choice voting, redistricting, and democracy vouchers.

    The commission is in the middle of a year-long process of public hearings and private discussions, which will yield proposals to change the city’s foundational laws that will go before voters this November. The scope of those

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  • Public Advocate Election Makes Case for Instant Runoff Voting

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    (photo: Gotham Gazette)


    If the 2018 election cycle is any indication, voter turnout is on the rise. Now is the time to take advantage of this moment to keep voters engaged in the electoral system and really give them a voice.

    One of the best ideas for promoting more diverse, open, and democratic elections is instant runoff voting (IRV). In New York City primaries, runoffs are forced for citywide elected positions when votes are split and no one candidate receives more than 40 percent of the vote. With IRV, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no

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  • With Nod from De Blasio and Push from Johnson, Momentum for Ranked-Choice Voting in New York City

    bdb at voting machine

    (photo: Gotham Gazette)


    With all three of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s charter revision proposals approved by voters by wide margins on Tuesday, eyes are now on the 2019 Charter Revision Commission, empaneled by the City Council and other officials, which will, in some respects, pick up where the 2018 commission left off, possibly considering issues that the mayor’s commission did not act on.

    Key among those is ranked-choice voting (also known as instant runoff voting), an alternative method of voting wherein voters rank their candidate preferences

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