AB 1294, introduced by Assembly Member Gene Mullin (D-19) and Assembly Member Mark Leno (D-13), would allow all cities and counties to use ranked voting systems to elect their representatives.  The bill would allow these jurisdictions to use Instant Runoff Voting for single-winner elections or Choice Voting (a ranked voting system similar to IRV) for multiple-winner elections. It would also add to the state Elections Code the guidelines and procedures registrars and equipment vendors need to count and report ranked voting elections

On June 6, the California Assembly passed AB 1294 with a strong majority vote, sending it to the Senate for consideration.  On July 10th, the Senate Elections Committee, the key policy committee in the Senate for elections related legislation, held a hearing on the bill and passed it out of committee.  We were extremely pleased to have the support of a broad set of allies for the bill in committee, and representatives from the Secretary of State's office, Californian Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, the League of California Cities, Davis Choice Voting, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, Greenlining Institute, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and others spoke in strong support of the bill.  Rob Dickinson of Californians for Electoral Reform, Ned Wigglesworth of Californian Common Cause, and Ronda Pascal of the Secretary of State's office testified.

In our testimony on the bill, we sought to highlight the growing support and momentum for ranked voting in California and nationally, the potential cost savings that local governments can realize as a result of electing winners in a single election, and the potential for significant improvements in voter turnout as a result of using ranked voting.  We also shared information on how successful the usage of ranked voting has been in San Francisco, especially the academic and survey research that showed that voters in San Francisco understood ranked voting, used it effectively, and preferred it over their old two-round runoff system.

CfER sees this legislation as an important enabling step for reform at the local level across the state, as it gives general law cities and counties the same flexibility to use ranked voting that charter jurisdictions already have.  The California Elections Code does not give general law jurisdictions the option to use ranked voting, and AB 1294 would provide a means for these jurisdictions to adopt and implement instant runoff voting or choice voting.  In the past, in general law cities where there was interest or support for ranked voting, efforts to evaluate its usage have faltered due to the lack of a legal option to uses these systems.  Given that three-fourths of all cities and counties are general law jurisdiction, passing this legislation will open the door for many local governments to finally consider ranked voting.

AB 1294 only applies to local non-partisan elections for municipal offices in cities and counties.  It does not apply   to school districts, special districts, community college districts, etc.  We hope to enable these jurisdictions to use ranked voting in the future, but feel that it would be a major first step to enable all cities and counties to use IRV and choice voting.  AB 1294 does cover both single-winner elections by allowing the usage of instant runoff voting, and multiple-winner elections, such as city councils and boards of supervisors, by allowing choice voting.  This legislation is strictly permissive, and does not mandate that any jurisdictions use ranked voting, and jurisdictions that wish to adopt ranked voting must obtain voter approval in order to do so.

Now that the bill has passed the key policy committee, it must next be passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, which considers the fiscal impact of the bill.  If that is successful, it will then be voted on by the full Senate.  Passing any legislation is a long and arduous process, especially electoral reform legislation, and we hope that you will actively assist us along the way by contacting various members of the Legislature at critical junctures.  Please see the Call to Action below for how to help us immediately with our next steps.