Say NO to Ranked Choice Voting
URGENT CALL TO ACTION!!! STOP our Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors from implementing Ranked Choice Voting for all county elections! On April 15th the Finance, Government Operations Committee (FGOC) of the SCC Board of Supervisors (BOS) will be deciding whether to take the implementation of RCV to a full vote by our supervisors. WE NEED YOU TO CALL AND EMAIL THE SUPERVISORS (be sure to CC Board Operations on emails to ensure it goes on record) ASAP (all contact information below) and, if possible, show up to the meeting at 2pm on April 15th at 70 W Hedding Street, San Jose to oppose RCV.
Santa Clara County is the ONLY charter county in California where our 5 Supervisors can vote to implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), also known as Instant Runoff Voting, for local elections without a vote by the people. This is due to legislation (AB1227) signed into law by Governor Newsom that specifically gave the county of Santa Clara this authority. Why are some so determined to change the way we have always voted, One person – One Vote – Majority wins, to a complicated, non-transparent, more costly method that cannot be audited and disenfranchises voters?
è VIDEO: Watch this short video to better understand how RCV (aka Instant Runoff) works: Demonstration of an RCV election
WHO IS PUSHING RCV? It is NOT coming from the people. In fact, most residents are unaware that the county and city are prioritizing this change. Even more striking, when asked, many residents don’t even know what Ranked Choice Voting entails.
After a thorough investigation, the SCC Citizens Election Oversight, a citizen-led group, uncovered public records that reveal that the push for RCV instead is a completely lobbyist-driven initiative. Over the past two years, the Board of Supervisors has met with well-funded national and local RCV advocacy organizations and lobbyists more than 66 times!
Even more shocking, Santa Clara County’s Citizen Advisory Commission on Elections (CACE)—intended to represent a cross-section of citizens and provide impartial analysis to the Board—appears to function more like a Ranked Choice Voting Advisory Commission on Election because multiple appointed CACE members turn out to have direct ties with various RCV organizations. This undermines their ability to offer the Board an unbiased recommendation on this matter due to clear conflicts of interest.
The claims that RCV provides more candidate choices, decreases negative campaign ads, and ensures the majority wins have been proven false. RCV disproportionately disadvantages seniors and less affluent voters. RCV’s increased complexity leads to higher costs, higher error rates and confusion, making it harder for voters to ensure that their votes are counted as they were intended. Districts using RCV have lower turnout rates and generally longer delays in the election counting process as well.
Ranked Choice Voting is a confusing and complex system that requires voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference. The winner is determined by tabulator configuration settings that are neither transparent, observable nor auditable. Many voters may have their ballots “exhausted”, i.e., not counted, towards the final declared winner. The Dominion Voting Systems, the intended tabulator for RCV, includes at least 14 different settings that render at least 276,480 different ways to count our votes. Depending on how the settings are set, it could lead to just as many different outcomes! For a detailed breakdown of how RCV tabulates votes, along with firsthand accounts from Oakland residents who have used it for 14 years, visit https://onemillionauditors.org/.
è Watch this video to see an example of how the votes from one candidate can be shifted to another thereby changing the outcome of an election: RCV race outcomes can change!
This is not a partisan issue – everyone should support the effort to ban Ranked Choice Voting. The American people’s trust in our election process should be strengthened, not weakened. In summary, before the Board of Supervisors or city councils rush to reshape our election system, they should pause and reflect: Did the people of Santa Clara County ask for this? Why are lobbyists, not constituents, setting the agenda? With so many pressing issues facing residents, elected officials should refocus their efforts on solving the public’s problems—not catering to the demands of well-connected and well-funded advocacy groups.
Other Ranked Choice Voting Resources:
è This is an excellent resource to learn more about all things RCV: KeepVotingSimple.com
è Here is a link to a one-page flyer with information about the risks of RCV, including links to academic research.
è Here are a few examples of locations across the country that have experienced many challenges:
· Arlington, Virginia
Portland Oregon
Oregon Public Broadcasting:Why Portland’s District 1 voter participation lagged other districts in first election using ranked choice voting
Oakland, California
San Francisco, California
è For additional information, check out the FairElectionsSCC.org Research and Resources page.
è The Santa Clara County FGOC webpage can be accessed at this link. On the page, you will find instructions for written, in-person or virtual public comment. The agenda for the meeting will be published in advance of the meeting.
Contact information for the SCC Board of Supervisors.
***Note: When you send your email, also copy BoardOperations@cob.sccgov.org to ensure your email goes on record with the County ***
· District 1: Board VP, Supervisor Sylvia Arenas, sylvia.arenas@bos.sccgov.org (408)299-5010
· District 2: Supervisor Betty Duong, betty.duong@bos.sccgov.org (408)299-5020
· District 3: Board President, Supervisor Otto Lee, otto.lee@bos.sccgov.org (408)299-5030
· District 4: Supervisor Susan Ellenberg, susan.ellenberg@bos.sccgov.org (408)299-5040
· District 5: Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, margaret.abekoga@bos.sccgov.org (408) 299-5050
LOOK UP YOUR DISTRICT SUPERVISOR: https://rovservices.sccgov.org/
For questions or more information, contact Sue at CountLegalVotesOnly@gmail.com.