Dear John,

June is a big month for ranked choice voting (RCV) in primary elections. On Tuesday, Charlottesville, VA will use RCV for the first time to choose nominees for City Council. One week after that, New York City will use RCV for the third time – choosing nominees for the much-watched race for mayor, as well as City Council, borough presidents, and other citywide offices. Early voting begins tomorrow. 

Here’s what to know about both cities’ elections.

First use of RCV in Charlottesville

Last September, the Charlottesville City Council voted to pilot ranked choice voting in its 2025 primary election – following a string of successful uses across the state:

• Virginia Republicans have repeatedly used RCV to choose party leaders and nominees – including to pick their state party chair in 2020, to nominate Governor Glenn Youngkin and their winning slate of statewide candidates in 2021, and to choose congressional candidates in 2022.
• Arlington County first piloted RCV in its 2023 primary election. The reform was so popular that the county made RCV permanent for primaries and expanded it to general elections as well. 

Prior to RCV, Charlottesville chose its City Council members using winner-take-all block voting. That system allowed the largest group of voters to effectively pick every council member, locking other groups out of representation. As our friends at Ranked Choice Voting Virginia share:

This year, Charlottesville will use the gold-standard, proportional form of ranked choice voting, meaning all voters will have a say in who serves on the City Council. Voters will no longer have to be in the largest voting bloc to help elect a candidate of their choice, opening the door to candidates from traditionally underrepresented communities.

New York City

On June 24, New York City will hold the largest ranked choice voting election of the year – as voters choose nominees for mayor and other local offices. In New York City’s first use of RCV in 2021, 95% of voters said it was simple and 87% ranked at least two candidates. 

The Democratic primary for mayor is a packed field, with 11 candidates on the ballot. In a single-choice election, that would likely mean no candidate would earn a majority of the vote – as we just saw in New Jersey’s Democratic primary for governor this week. But ranked choice voting will help New York voters identify a majority winner in a crowded field.

Notably, RCV frees voters, elected leaders, and organizations to support multiple candidates that they like. For instance, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently endorsed five candidates for mayor, and specified which she would rank first and second. Several labor unions and community organizations have also endorsed more than one candidate.

Moreover, RCV encourages candidates to play nice, since they may need their rivals’ supporters to rank them as a backup choice. Just today, candidates Zohran Mamdani and Brad Lander endorsed each other as second choices for mayor. Yesterday, mayoral candidate Whitney Tilson said he'd rank competitor Andrew Cuomo second. We've even seen candidates raise funds for their competitors, and walk arm-in-arm with each other to joint campaign events.

In addition to the Democratic mayoral primary, there are 19 Democratic and Republican primary elections with three or more candidates on the ballot. RCV will help voters in each of these elections make their voices heard.

Thank you for taking the time to read this message! Stay tuned for more on this year’s RCV elections, and ways to get involved in the movement for better elections.

Best,
Deb Otis
Director of Research and Policy

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