San Francisco mayor’s race begins---rank choice voting early winner

November 4, 9:45 AMSF Politics ExaminerArthur Bruzzone

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the SF Politics Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- When San Francisco voters approved the use of rank choice voting, many on the left believed that they would finally capture the stellar prize of San Francisco politics --- the mayor’s office.

But the system, while it has proven a decisive factor in a number of races for the city’s Board of Supervisors, has never really been significant in the mayor’s race... Until now.

First the system: “If no candidate is the first preference of a majority of voters, the candidate with the fewest number of first preference rankings is eliminated and that candidate's ballots are redistributed at full value to the remaining candidates according to the next ranking on each ballot. This process is repeated until one candidate obtains a majority of votes among candidates not eliminated.” (Wikipedia)

The 2011 mayor’s race will feature the full impact of rank choice voting. It’s an open field with many candidates and no single dominating figure. There are some recognizable names. City Attorney Dennis Herrera, State Senator Leland Yee, several possible sitting and ex-supervisors (Bevan Dufty, Ross Mirkarimi, Tony Hall). Add a host of citizens who will gather up the fees to get their names into the mix.
This is precisely the rich environment for rank choice voting.

Candidates will have their base, but more important, they will jockey for the voter’s second and third choice. For political consultants it will be like playing chess on three levels. Voting targeting and messaging will be crucial.

In the end, on election night, no one will be able to predict the winner. Only the Election Department’s computers will determine the next city mayor.

(Thanks to M DelCarlo for his original observations on this topic)