Ranked Choice voting is better for the City of Sacramento
RCV would solve a number of problems that are created by Sacramento’s current election system.
Let’s break it down:
Problem: Most local races in Sacramento are decided in Primary Elections, which consistently have extremely low voter turnout. So City Council races have low voter engagement.
Current System
Solution: RCV moves all local races to the General Election, where more people vote. This boosts voter engagement and produces election outcomes that better reflect what the community wants.
Ranked Choice Voting
Problem: The election system encourages candidates to run campaigns narrowly tailored to their “base,” neglecting the broader community.
Current System
Solution: RCV motivates candidates to reach out to the whole community with positive campaigns focused on all the issues.
Ranked Choice Voting
Problem: Runoffs burden candidates with needing to raise extreme amounts of money, eliminating good candidates who aren’t connected to high-moneyed interests.
Current System
Solution: RCV makes candidates less reliant on fundraising, so they can spend more time talking with voters, including a broader range of voters and not just their major donors.
Ranked Choice Voting
Problem: Runoffs force candidates and their supporters to stretch their dollars and activism across two campaigns instead of one. Those resources could be better spent elsewhere, like state or federal elections where activists are equally passionate.
Current System
Solution: RCV creates an “instant runoff,” consolidating decisions in one higher-turnout General Election. This saves candidates money while reducing money in politics and notoriously negative campaigns.
Ranked Choice Voting
Problem: Two like-minded candidates risk “splitting the vote,” often ruining their community’s chance of electing either one. This vote-splitting turns candidates into “spoilers” and motivates activists to call for candidates to drop out of the race.
Current System
Solution: RCV prevents vote-splitting by enabling the voter to mark their 2nd choice as a “back-up” in case their 1st choice can’t win, empowering voters to express their true preferences without fear of “wasting their vote.” This supports fair and representative outcomes.
Ranked Choice Voting
We wanted to be part of the solution so we started the coalition, Better Ballot Sacramento!