"Yet that's what Santa Clara County expects voters to do. Amid a budget crisis, the county will have to spend $13 million to conduct a Dec. 30 runoff to choose a new assessor due to existing election rules. Those funds could instead support health care, public safety or housing. Turnout in runoffs typically drops about 40% - and most of those aren't held in the middle of the holidays. Does anyone really believe a Dec. 30 election will produce a representative result?"
"It doesn't have to be this way. If Santa Clara County adopts ranked choice voting - also known as instant runoff voting - voters could rank candidates in order of preference and elect a majority winner in a single, higher turnout election. No need for two elections. No need to vote during the holidays. No wasted millions of dollars. A smarter, fairer and less expensive way to vote"
Santa Clara County faces a budget crisis and must spend $13 million to hold a Dec. 30 runoff to choose a new assessor under existing election rules. Runoff turnout typically drops about 40 percent, and a holiday runoff is unlikely to produce a representative result. Ranked choice voting would let voters rank candidates and elect a majority winner in one, higher-turnout election, avoiding a separate runoff and saving money. The Registrar of Voters estimated one-time voter education costs of $2.7 million and $1.3 million in ongoing costs, about $4 million for the first cycle. Voters approved Measure F in 1998 to permit instant runoff voting when technology was available, current equipment already supports ranked choice voting, and the state removed the final legal barrier in 2023.
Read at San Jose Spotlight
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