Both San Francisco and Alameda counties use ranked choice voting for local elections. San Francisco will use it to elect its new mayor from a crowded field of candidates.
After all these years, the process still confuses many. Here’s a breakdown.
In ranked choice voting, voters rank the candidates with No. 1 being the favorite, No. 2 the second choice, and so on. You can rank as many candidates as you want, up to 10.
If a candidate gets more than half the votes after the first choices are tallied, we’ve got a winner and the election is over.
If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and their supporters’ second choice vote is now tallied. This process continues until one candidate wins the majority of the vote.
It’s also important to note that your second choice will only count if your first choice has been eliminated. Your third choice only counts if both your first and second choices have been eliminated, and so on.
Ranked choice has been controversial. While some people think it’s representative of the city and eliminates run-off elections, others argue whoever’s elected usually isn’t the top choice by the majority of voters.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
