Time for Ranked Voting

February 23, 2007

Dear Editor,

The nature of last fall’s City Council election has caused the council to look at several reforms, such as public financing of campaigns and the use of ranked voting.

As a new Santa Monica resident I am excited that these options are being given serious consideration, especially ranked voting. The system of ranked voting allows each voter to rank the candidates in order of their preference (1,2,3…) rather than the current system, in which voters are allowed to cast as many votes as open seats.

A study of the 2000 City Council election revealed that this system actually discouraged people from casting their votes for more than one candidate because of fear that voting for another candidate might hurt their preferred candidate’s chances, resulting in “bullet” voting.

Along with allowing voters to utilize the breath of their voting power, ranked voting would also promote more positive campaigning among candidates. Candidates would be vying for their opponents’ supporters’ second and third ranking, forcing the focus to remain on the issues at hand rather than on a smear campaign.

I look forward to the continued dialogue among the Council and the community over the possibilities of implementing ranked voting in Santa Monica.

Christen Chapman
Santa Monica