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City Council Rules and Communications Committee <br />Ranked Choice Voting <br />October 27, 2009 <br />Page 3 <br />become exhausted, it is possible that a candidate could achieve 50%+1 of all the remaining <br />countable votes cast for that office, yet not all the votes cast for that office. <br />Majority failure can happen in a traditional runoff election as well. For example, out of 10,000 <br />votes cast for the office of Councilmember, Candidate A receives 5,000 votes, Candidate B <br />receives 4,999 votes, and 1 vote is cast for an ineligible write-in candidate. Technically, <br />Candidate A did not receive 50%+l vote; however, Candidate A received 50%+1 of the <br />countable votes cast for the office. <br />Holding a runoff election is costly for the City, time-consuming for staff and for the candidates, <br />and requires voters to go to the polls twice. However, a runoff election allows a candidate who <br />finishes second in the general election to campaign for several additional months, during which <br />the candidate could potentially gain votes in the runoff election. <br />Pierce County, Washington, and the City of Aspen, Colorado, are two jurisdictions that have <br />used RCV. Both are now considering discontinuing RCV and reverting back to traditional <br />runoff elections. It appears that the failure of RCV in these areas is largely attributable to a lack <br />of understanding of the RCV process, and resulting voter confusion, due to insufficient voter <br />education. <br />SOS representatives requested assurance that the Alameda County cities proposing to use RCV <br />have "robust" education and outreach plans. If San Leandro uses RCV in 2010, staff will need to <br />conduct extensive outreach and training to educate San Leandro voters on how to vote using <br />RCV. The ROV has already developed educational materials (see attached), and City staff <br />would create and implement an outreach plan if the Council approves the use of RCV. <br />CONCLUSION <br />Staff requests that the Committee review and discuss this information, and recommend the <br />matter be referred to the full Council for discussion. <br />