City of Hendersonville asked to consider ranking as a voting method

HENDERSONVILLE - Hendersonville can save time and money and hold more efficient elections if it moves to ranked-choice voting for future elections, an advocate from two non-partisan non-profits told City Council members at their Oct. 25 meeting.

Ranked-choice voting eliminates the need for primaries and runoff elections and gives the voter more choice, Diane Silver, legislative lead for Better Ballot NC and a FairVote staff member, said during her pitch to council members. But first the city would have to ask for permission to use the method.

Municipalities are currently not allowed to switch to ranked-choice voting, Silver said. She asked that the council consider requesting help from state legislators in getting the go-ahead to use the method in Hendersonville.

Better Ballot NC staff are presenting similar arguments in support of ranked-choice voting to municipalities across the state in hopes of getting several on board.

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“I have to admit, I’m a little bit pessimistic about how open-minded your state representatives are going to be to this, but I’m optimistic about the fact that it’s a bigger picture than that,” Silver said.

Hendersonville is no stranger to ranked-choice voting - the city used the method for two elections while participating in a pilot program offered by the state from 2007-2011, including for a 2007 election that included a five-way race for one City Council seat.

“It certainly appeared to be well accepted,” said Silver, adding that an exit poll by the N.C. State Political Science department showed 85 percent of voters liked the method. The city also opted to continue with the pilot program until it sundowned in 2012.

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How does it work?

If no candidate gets a majority of votes to win an election, the lowest voter-getter in the race would be eliminated and, instead of holding a runoff, election officials would look at ballots from voters who chose the eliminated candidate and award their votes to the candidate they ranked second.

This process would be repeated until a candidate has the majority. Results are known instantly, and voters still have the opportunity to weigh in on their second choice, but without going back to the polls, Silver said.

Eliminating the need for a primary and a runoff saves time and money, Silver said. Ranked-choice voting also consolidates primary and general elections into one event when turnout is highest, instead of subjecting candidates to a lengthy campaigning process, which leads to voter exhaustion.

The 2021 primary cost about $17,000, Silver said, money that could be used elsewhere. Another benefit would be more positive campaigning, she said, as candidates would not want to alienate supporters of other candidates because they would want to be their second choice.

Ranked-choice voting is used in two states for federal elections and 50 jurisdictions nationwide.

“It’s a growing movement. It’s the fastest-growing electoral reform in the country, and every year, more and more municipalities are adopting it, because it really is just a very common-sense reform,” Silver said, adding that the process has also been used in a handful of other countries, including New Zealand and Ireland, for many years.

“This is a very tried-and-true method,” Silver said. “The point is, it’s not some fringe, experimental kind of thing.”

While Hendersonville doesn’t appear to have issues with voting, Silver said the method can improve the election process in other cities.

“There’s a whole bunch of problems with our elections currently that ranked-choice voting can solve,” she said.

Council members did not comment after Silver's presentation.

The request comes as City Council considers two other voting changes - adopting the plurality method for elections and asking the Board of Elections to rotate candidates’ names on ballots instead of listing them alphabetically.

Council members adopted a resolution of intent at their Sept. 7 meeting to adopt the plurality method. A public hearing Oct. 5 drew one speaker, who expressed concerns about the method and its elimination of primaries.

Council could also vote on those changes during its Nov. 2 meeting.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Hendersonville asked to consider ranking as a voting method