RANKED CHOICE VOTING NYC Community Partners Training Presented

RANKED CHOICE VOTING NYC Community Partners Training Presented By:

A QUICK RECAP ON THE UPCOMING CHANGES TO OUR LOCAL ELECTIONS. . .

How Did We Get Here? 2009 A costly, low turn-out runoff election is held for Public Advocate and Comptroller prompting a debate over the use of runoff elections. 2010 City Council Member Gale Brewer introduces the first Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) bill. 2010 Charter Revision Commissions Both explore RCV for local elections but conclude more & 2018 time is needed to make a decision. 2019 Charter Revision Commission puts RCV before NYC voters and the referendum passes with nearly 75% of the vote. 2021 First RCV elections!

Why Are We Here? • The conjunction of our robust campaign finance system and the implementation of term limits has lead to a wealth of diverse candidates, who under the current system would risk splitting the vote. • Under the current system of voting, City Council members are elected with a plurality. Meaning a candidate can with as little as 20% of the vote.

What’s Changing? Starting on January 1 st, 2021 all local primary and special elections for City Council, Borough President, Public Advocate, Comptroller and Mayor will be Ranked Choice Voting elections. • Runoffs are eliminated & candidates will need to win with at least 50% + 1 of the vote. • Voters will now have the option to rank up to 5 candidates (including a write-in) if they choose.

What is Ranked Choice Voting? 1 st choice: The candidate you love. 2 nd choice: The candidate you like. 3 rd or 4 th choice: The candidate you like slightly less. 5 th choice: The candidate you can stand.

Why Ranked Choice Voting? • Saves money • No spoilers or split votes! • Allows for new voices and perspectives • Builds consensus • Discourages negative campaigning

Where Is RCV Used Now?

What is Ranked Choice Voting? Core message (the who, what, where) The Why: RCV = More Power for Voters Starting in 2021, New York City voters will have the option to rank their top 5 candidates in our local primary and special elections for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and City Council. If voters still want to vote for just one candidate, they can. By ranking, voters needn’t worry about: • Wasting their vote • Accidentally helping elect someone we do not support • Splitting the vote • Someone being elected with less than a majority

Voter Education Is A Team Effort The Campaign Finance Board, the Board of Elections and the City Council will all be involved in voter education and outreach in 2021. However, voter education outreach by advocacy groups, trade associations and community-based organizations will be invaluable, because these groups really know their constituents and can tailor the message to reach different communities.

Focused On Community Education & Election Administration • Conducting presentations to candidates/campaigns, elected officials and partner organizations since March • Working with the New York State and New York City Boards of Elections to ensure smooth implementation including: � Software & firmware upgrades � Ballot redesign � Tabulation software • Consulting with the NYC Campaign Finance Board on voter education

HOW RANKED CHOICE VOTING WORKS

What Your Ballot Is Likely To Look Like

Why Should Voters Use Their Rankings? • More choice, more power! • Even if your favorite candidate doesn’t win, you still have a say in who’s elected. • You can vote your conscience without worrying that you’re wasting your vote. • Ranking a 2 nd, 3 rd, etc. choice will never hurt your favorite candidate.

Counting Rounds Are Run After ALL Ballots Are Counted • The counting rounds only kick in if no candidate receives 50% + 1 of the first choice votes. • The official winner will not be declared until all votes are counted including early, election day, affidavit and absentee votes. • Round by round vote totals will be released to the general public.

What Does All This Mean For Election Night? Election Night Results Like always, the Board of Elections will release unofficial election night results. Results will be released as follows: • The total number of ballots that marked a candidate as rank number 1. • If there’s no majority winner, results will be announced with the vote redistribution round by round. It is probable that the BOE will delay this reporting. But What About Early Voting, Affidavit & Absentee Ballots? They will be counted as they normally are: • Early voting ballots will be counted on election night. • After election day, the Board of Elections will check affidavit ballots to ensure they were submitted by eligible citizens at the correct polling place before tabulating votes. Absentee ballots deemed validly cast will then be folded into the counting process.

HOW TO TALK TO YOUR COMMUNITY ABOUT RANKED CHOICE VOTING

How To Talk About RCV? Some people are not going to like RCV at first. That’s ok! It is a change and that can be uncomfortable. There’s a good chance some NY’ers don’t even know this is happening. When talking about RCV, it is important to: • Don't get bogged down in theoretical • Avoid jargon • Keep it simple • Bring it back to family, friends, and neighbors, and their values • Use visuals! • Remind them ranking is easy and we do it all the time!

How To Talk About RCV? THERE WILL BE SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS…

How To Talk About RCV? HOW MANY CANDIDATES DO I RANK? You can rank up to 5 candidates, as many or as few as you’d like.

How To Talk About RCV? DO I HAVE TO USE ALL 5 RANKINGS? No. Your vote will still count if you only rank one or a couple candidates.

How To Talk About RCV? CAN I RANK A CANDIDATE MORE THAN ONCE? It does not help your favorite candidate to rank them more than once.

How To Talk About RCV? DOES IT HURT MY FAVORITE CANDIDATE TO HAVE A 2 ND CHOICE? No, your 2 nd (or 3 rd, 4 th, & 5 th) choices will only be looked at if your 1 st choice is eliminated.

How To Talk About RCV? THERE WILL BE SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS… • LET’S BRAINSTORM OTHER QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HEAR AND TALK THROUGH THE ANSWERS TOGETHER! • YOU DON’T HAVE TO HAVE THE PERFECT RESPONSE, AND IT IS ALWAYS KEY TO BRING IT BACK TO THE VOTER’S EXPERIENCE!

Show, Don't Just Tell Explaining RCV is always harder than showing people how it will work. Sample ballots are super helpful.

RCV Essentials to Remember Core message (the who, what, where) The Why: RCV = More Power for Voters Starting in 2021, New York City voters will have the option to rank their top 5 candidates in our local primary and special elections for Mayor, Comptroller, Public Advocate, Borough President, and City Council. If voters still want to vote for just one candidate, they can. By ranking, voters needn’t worry about: • Wasting their vote • Accidentally helping elect someone we do not support • Splitting the vote • Someone being elected with less than a majority

Endorsements Many endorsing organizations will change their endorsement process, this is no longer a zero-sum game. In other cities with RCV, we’ve seen: • Top two endorsements • Ranked endorsements • Multiple endorsed candidates

Supporting Endorsed Candidates • As always, your 1 st choice is the most important endorsements � Typically provide financial and organizational support to only your first choice. • You are not forced to rank candidates who do not meet your organization's criteria for endorsement. • 2 nd and 3 rd choice candidates have to include their endorsement rankings in all communications relating to their endorsements • Require a candidate code of conduct for candidates you endorse. � Candidates agree to accurately list their endorsement rankings. � Candidates agree not to push bullet voting.

How to break through that malaise? Voters can start by electing a new mayor. We recommend first-choice votes for Jacob Frey…. [other] issues have created an opening for a pro-business mayoral candidate, and Tom Hoch has stepped up his campaign to fill that bill. On the ranked choice ballot, we’d make him our 2 nd choice.

With Other Candidates

With Other Candidates

Contact Us www. rankthevotenyc. org info@rankthevotenyc. org 212 -691 -6421 facebook. com/Rank. The. Vote. NYC @rankthevotenyc on twitter & IG

RANKED CHOICE VOTING NYC Community Partners Training Presented By: