Armed with hand-made signs and slogans, Jersey City residents – and several out-of-towners – called on city lawmakers Wednesday to adopt “ranked choice” voting.
Proponents say it will encourage voter turnout and will save the cost of runoff balloting.
And the City Council obliged, affirming their support for the measure by a 7-0 margin, with Ward C member Richard Boggiano abstaining and Ward A member Denise Ridley absent.
Before the new law can take effect, however, the state legislature will have to pass bills known as S1622/A4042 to authorize municipalities’ use of RVC (ranked choice voting).
And then, the city would have to ask voters in a binding referendum “to be held at the first general election in November following the enactment of state legislation,” whether they wanted to amend the city’s charter to accommodate the proposed method for helping decide elections.
Joel Rothfus echoed the sentiments of many public speakers Wednesday when he reasoned that RCV “will level the playing field and save government money.”
RCV will “ensure that (election) winners are accountable to a majority of the voters,” Edward Perkins asserted.
Elena Little reasoned that the proposed voting method would “lead to greater diversity of candidates” and that, in Jersey City, where, typically, low turnout prevails at runoffs, RCV would “save the cost of a second election.”
Confessing to never having voted in an election, out of disinterest, 40-year-old Anastasios Zouroudis said that if ranked choice voting came into play, he’d change course because “it finally feels like I’m saying something. I feel (RCV) will bring people like me out to vote.”
As described by the newly-passed city ordinance, RCV “is a simple upgrade to the way Jersey City voters currently vote. RCV enables voters to rank candidates in the order of preference and ensures that winners of any election have the support of – and are accountable to – a majority of voters.”
In its simplest “Instant Runoff” form – in cases of single-winner races such as Jersey City mayoralty – RCV “is a majority runoff … where votes are transferred from the lowest-ranked candidate up to higher ranked candidates until one person achieves (more than) 50% of the votes cast,” the ordinance says.
In multi-winner races – Jersey City’s at-large City Council members, Jersey City’s Board of Education and the city’s two General Assembly seats in the state legislature – RCV’s “Single Transferrable Vote” system would apply.
How this works, as outlined by the ordinance, is as follows: “Each candidate that receives the necessary threshold number of votes (that vary with the number of seats elected) is elected. All votes in excess of that threshold of any elected candidate are then transferred to the voters’ next preferred candidate on a proportional basis. Subsequently, votes are transferred from the lowest-ranked candidate up to higher-ranked candidates until another candidate achieves the threshold number of votes. This process continues until all seats are filled.”
Ward E Councilmember James Solomon – who has been a vocal proponent of the change – said that allowing voters more say in election outcomes is the next logical step after eliminating “party line” voting.
A council endorsement of RCV – following similar action taken by the Hoboken City Council – is designed to help “create momentum” that will, hopefully, lead to action by the state House and Senate, and then, to a local referendum.
Ward F Councilmember Frank Gilmore called the council vote “a step in the right direction” because, ultimately, “it will save (government) money and take away a lot of the negative back and forth in elections.”
Council approval “underscores our dedication to empowering voters and promoting a more representative democracy,” Gilmore added.
Ward D Councilmember Yousef Saleh said he’s “pledged my support” for the shift; At-large member Daniel Rivera proclaimed himself “100% with it;” and At-large member Amy Degise credited her colleagues and the advocacy group Voter Choice NJ “for their commendable effort in educating the public” on the mechanics of RCV.
Council President Joyce Watterman said people may wonder why it’s taken so long to get the law up for vote. “This ordinance went back and forth – we had to keep consulting (the city) legal (department). It took a year but that’s why. We believe in freedom of choice. I vote ‘aye.”’
If state lawmakers were to permit the change in voting rules soon, the earliest Jersey City could expect to see RCV on the ballot would be November 2025, according to Solomon, who said it could then be used for the first time in the mayoralty contest slated for November 2025.
That prediction “is a longshot,” Solomon acknowledged, “but getting rid of the party line was considered a longshot.”
Sightline Institute, an independent think-tank based in Seattle, has tracked 31 cities in the U.S. now using RCV to decide their elections.
Asked his opinion of RCV, Hudson County Executive Craig Guy said through a spokesperson that he’s “coming up on his first 100 days in office and is focused on getting things done for the people of Hudson County. That includes reaching out to residents to hear their concerns (and) working with department heads to make sure Hudson County’s government is working for the people.”