Better Elections for Tempe
The proposed charter amendment, “Better Elections for Tempe Act“, would improve Tempe elections by shifting from a traditional “pick one” system to a Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for general and special elections.
Here are the key points for how this change would affect voters and candidates:
Changes for Voters
- Ranked Preferences: In the general election, voters will no longer be limited to selecting just one candidate. Instead, they can rank five candidates in order of preference (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.).
- Maximizing Vote Power: The system is designed to “maximize the power” of a single vote. If a voter’s first choice is eliminated, their vote can automatically transfer toward their next-ranked active candidate.
- Sincere Voting: Voters can vote for their preferred candidate without fear of the “spoiler effect,” allowing for more “honest and sincere voting” rather than strategic voting to avoid a candidate they dislike.
- Primary: The primary is only necessary if there are more than 5 qualified candidates per open seat. To advance to the general election, candidates must be among the top five for Mayor or the top 15 for City Council in the primary.
Changes for Candidates
- Shift in Campaign Tone: The amendment aims to promote more civil and issue-oriented campaigns. Because candidates may need to be a voter’s second or third choice to win, there is a greater incentive to seek broad support rather than relying solely on a narrow base.
- Encouraging New Candidates: The findings suggest RCV may encourage a wider range of candidates to run for office by preventing candidates from being “spoilers” for other somewhat similar candidates.
- Election Thresholds:
- Mayor (Single-Winner): A candidate must ultimately receive a majority of votes (50%+1) through the process to win the election.
- Council (Multi-Winner): Candidates must reach an election threshold determined by dividing the total valid votes by the number of seats plus one. Surplus votes from winning candidates are distributed to the next-ranked active candidates on those ballots.
In practice:When electing 3 council members, a winner will need to exceed 25% of the votes cast to be elected to one of those seats. - In both situations, the results will be determined with only a single election. Voters can rank their backup choices and no runoffs are necessary.