Ranked-choice voting will be on Broomfield’s November ballot
Broomfield voters will decide in November if they want to implement rankedchoice voting in future elections.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to refer ranked-choice voting to the November ballot. If the measure is approved, voters would begin electing the mayor and City Council using rankedchoice voting beginning in 2023. Voters would rank candidates on a ballot, and the candidate with the fewest votes in the first round is eliminated. Voters who chose the eliminated candidate have their second choice vote counted, and the process continues until one candidate has the majority of votes counted in the final round, the council memo explains.
Council member Deven Shaff, along with former council members Mike Shelton and Kevin Kreeger initially brought the concept forward in September 2018. The ordinance was passed on first reading June 22 and was approved unanimously on second reading Tuesday.
“Over the past four years I have learned a lot about Broomfield’s elections and voting methods. I have concluded that there isn’t a perfect voting method,” Shaff stated in a news release from Ranked Choice Voting for Colorado. “At the same time, our current plurality voting method is the worst of all systems because it discourages participation and can result in misrepresentations of the electorate when there are more than two candidates vying for the same office.”
Ranked-choice voting “would provide opportunities for more candidates to freely run for office while encouraging positive, yet competitive campaigns where the winner is chosen by a majority of voters,” his statement continued.
If approved, Broomfield would be joining Boulder in using ranked-choice voting in the 2023 mayoral election.