RulesCommunications Highlights 2009 1027

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City Council Rules and Communications Committee Ranked Choice Voting October 27, 2009 Page 2 At the City Council work session on July 13, 2009, some preliminary cost estimates were provided. These estimates have since been revised, as follows: Estimated Cost of 2010 Election-Without RCV $75K June General Election $SOK November Runoff Election $125K Total Estimated Cost of 2010 Election-With RCV $42k City's share of Sequoia RCV system $ l Ok Firmware upgrade $32k 2na ballot card plus postage $6k Additional poll worker at each polling place $20k Voter education and outreach ROV election administration costs $160k Total Estimated C~ $32k $lOk $SOk $92k Est of Future Elections-With RCV 2"d ballot card plus postage Ongoing voter education and outreach ROV election administration costs Total Cost after 2 Elections: With RCV Without RCV $160k $125k $92k $125k $252k Total $250k Total Other Actions Necessary to Use RCV In order to use RCV in November 2010, the City's municipal election must be changed from June to November, and voters would need to be notified. Regulations for the conduct of a RCV election would need to be adopted by ordinance. Extensive outreach and education would need to be undertaken, to ensure that voters understand the process and feel comfortable using it. Issues with RCV A concern was raised at the July 13 work session that a RCV election may not produce a winner with the 50%+1 votes cast for the office as required by the City Charter. This is sometimes referred to as "majority failure." In a RCV election, if a candidate does not receive the required 50%+1 votes cast for the office, the candidate receiving the lowest number of first place votes is eliminated from the race, and the ballots are reexamined. The second place votes on those ballots are counted, and the votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates. In this process, some ballots become "exhausted," having no countable votes remaining. If enough ballots