Vista shows little support for ranked-choice voting
A proposal to explore a new voting system draws little support during a brief council discussion, with most members citing cost, complexity, and local election dynamics
VISTA — A brief discussion of a new voting system and amending the city’s charter showed little interest from the City Council during its meeting on Tuesday.
Councilwoman Katie Melendez brought forward an item regarding moving city elections to ranked-choice voting (RCV) rather than the current one-person, one-vote system. She said she wanted a “temperature check” of the council to gauge their interest in RCV.
All but Councilwoman Corinna Contreras expressed little interest in the system during a 10-minute discussion at the end of the meeting. Vista voters would have to approve an amendment to the city’s charter, as the charter states the city must use whatever system the state uses.
If the RCV were ever approved by the council, it would apply only to City Council and mayoral races.
Melendez, though, said RCV brings several benefits to voters as they rank their candidates in order of their support, among others.
“Our current voting system is based on plurality,” she explained. “For ranked-choice voting, the voter actually gets to rank the options of the different candidates, allowing for more diversity, more third-party candidates and, ultimately, the person who gets the vote at the end of the day gets the majority of votes.”
Melendez said the city of San Diego discussed RCV and would have cost $3 million to implement, and ultimately decided not to approve the system.
Currently, there are 51 jurisdictions across the U.S. with RCV and seven in California, including the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, and Santa Clara, San Mateo and Madera counties. Alaska and Maine are the only two states that use RCV for statewide races, according to state records.
