{"id":164,"date":"2019-02-27T20:18:35","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/"},"modified":"2019-02-27T20:18:35","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T20:18:35","slug":"let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work"},"template":"","class_list":["post-164","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Yesterday, in one of the most crowded races in New York City history, Jumaane Williams won his campaign for Public Advocate against 16 other candidates with 33% of the vote. That\u2019s right. A tiny fraction of New Yorkers \u2014 only 8.6% of active voters \u2014 turned out to elect the second most powerful politician in the city, and the victor didn\u2019 t come close to a majority. ","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7879}","{\"site_id\":\"67\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":161}"],"related_issues":[109,458],"related_work":false,"location":35},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Yesterday, in one of the most crowded races in New York City history, Jumaane Williams won his campaign for Public Advocate against 16 other candidates with 33% of the vote. Erich Ulrich came in second with 19% and Melissa Mark-Viverito third with 11%. The remaining 14 candidates got anywhere from 0.25% to 8%.\r\n\r\nThat\u2019s right. A tiny fraction of New Yorkers \u2014 only 8.6% of active voters \u2014 turned out to elect the second most powerful politician in the city, and the victor didn\u2019 t come close to a majority. The process, which we\u2019ll repeat again in June and November, will ultimately cost taxpayers many millions more than the office\u2019s relatively small $3 million budget.\r\n\r\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be like this: New Yorkers can have ranked-choice voting.\r\n\r\nRanked-choice voting allows voters to express their preferences for a variety of candidates by ranking their top five choices. If on election day when all the first-choices are counted there is one candidate who collects a majority of the first-place votes, that candidate wins.\r\n\r\nIf there\u2019s no majority, then the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes re-allocated according to voter preferences. The process is repeated until there\u2019s a majority winner.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s not a new idea \u2014 other cities like San Francisco, Minneapolis and Santa Fe, have implemented ranked-choice voting to revolutionize the way candidates campaign. It forces them to reach beyond tribal bases to build consensus across a broad range of constituencies. As a result, elected representatives more accurately reflect the will of the people rather than a patchwork of voting blocs.\r\n\r\nAdvocates have worked for years to fix city election laws, making it easier for all people, not just entrenched politicians, to run for office. With the combination of term limits for City Council together with small dollar public matching funds, we see increasing numbers of diverse candidates in multi-candidate races. This is a good thing, but ranked-choice voting is the next step in further democratizing our elections.\r\n\r\nWhen we\u2019re spending our tax dollars through matching funds, we expect our elected officials to make broad arguments for why they\u2019re the best choice \u2014 not just pander to one or two groups. We see elected officials, over and over again, work to capture just enough votes so they win without working towards consensus. It\u2019s time we changed that.\r\n\r\nJust look at our past three election cycles: Sixty-three percent of multi-candidate primaries were won with less than 50% of the vote, 30% were won with less than 40%, and nearly 10% were won with less than 30%. And a majority of our City Council members won their primaries \u2014 which virtually guarantees election in November \u2014 without majority support in their districts from the primaries. That\u2019s not really democratic representation.\r\n\r\nRanked-choice voting also helps change the composition of what our government looks like. According to a study done by Fair Vote, in the four Bay Area cities that use ranked-choice voting, candidates of color have won 62% of those races, as compared to only 38% prior.\r\n\r\nAnother benefit is that ranked-choice voting puts an end to accusations that multiple candidates from the same community are spoilers. Voters can vote for their preferred first choice without worrying about inadvertently electing an undesirable candidate. It also lessens the incentives to attack each other through negative advertising, a big benefit in an era lacking in civil discourse.\r\n\r\nInstituting ranked-choice voting now could have a dramatic effect on our upcoming New York City primary elections in 2021. The incumbents will be term-limited in approximately 70% of the City Council, all five borough presidencies, as well as the offices of the controller and the mayor. We can expect 200 candidates at a minimum to compete for open council seats, probably more, and crowded primaries for the remaining executive offices.\r\n\r\nThe New York City Council\u2019s Charter Revision Commission is currently reviewing recommendations for this November\u2019s ballot. The 15-member commission has the opportunity to transform the way New Yorkers vote and candidates campaign.\r\n\r\nNew Yorkers deserve a chance to rank. Let them."}}]},"yoast_head":"\nLet New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work - Common Cause New York<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause New York\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/\",\"name\":\"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work - Common Cause New York\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-02-27T20:18:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause New York\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work - Common Cause New York","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work","og_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/","og_site_name":"Common Cause New York","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/","name":"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work - Common Cause New York","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-02-27T20:18:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/press-releases\/let-new-yorkers-rank-their-candidates-its-long-past-time-to-overhaul-the-way-elections-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Let New Yorkers rank their candidates: It’s long past time to overhaul the way elections work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/","name":"Common Cause New York","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Common Cause New York","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}