Originally Published: October 2, 2013
Council members Lander & Brewer, Comptroller Liu, other electeds & candidates, & election experts join Citizens Union to support instant runoff voting
Today, elected officials, elections experts, and reform advocates gathered on the steps of City Hall to support Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) in New York City. Council Members Brad Lander and Gale Brewer, Comptroller John Liu, Assembly Member Brian Kavanaugh, and Democratic Council Nominees Corey Johnson and Carlos Menchaca joined Board of Elections Commissioner Doug Kellner, Former City Board Commissioner J.C Polanco, Citizens Union Executive Director Dick Dadey, Common Cause Executive Director Susan Lerner, League of Women Voters Elections Specialist Kate Doranand NYPIRG Statewide Outreach Director Andrew Morrison to call on the New York City Council to put an end to runoff elections for citywide elections once and for all and instead establish Instant Runoff Voting.
“It’s high time we ditch expensive, low-turnout runoff elections and give New Yorkers a simple solution that enables more voters the opportunity to weigh in on the candidates running for office,” said Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union. “Instant Runoff Voting has worked in other American cities like San Francisco and Oakland and should replace the runoff election at the polls in New York City.”
Yesterday, the city held a legally required runoff election for Public Advocate which, by all accounts, resulted in very low voter turnout—an inherent problem for runoff elections. According to the New York Daily News, less than 200,000 voters showed up at the polls. This is a mere fraction of the city’s 2.8 million registered Democrats and less than turned out for the last Public Advocate runoff. In 2009, the Public Advocate runoff drew only 7.3 percent of the primary electorate—a drop in turnout of 36 percent from the primary election.
Council Member Gale Brewer, sponsor of IRV legislation, said, “Instant run-off voting is an idea whose time has come in New York. This year, we are spending millions of dollars on a low turn-out election that few New Yorkers even know about. Instant run-off voting is a common-sense solution that will alleviate a number of the problems we face each citywide election cycle, improve voter turnout, and save the city tens of millions of dollars. We need to embrace a system that has been used successfully across the country and around the world, and move New York’s election administration into the 21st Century.”
Council Member Brad Lander, another IRV legislation sponsor, said, “Instant Runoff Voting is the best of both worlds. You have more people participating in the runoff and you save money. I am proud to partner with Citizens Union and Council Member Brewer on this legislation and look forward to working with my colleagues to bring these reforms to City elections.”
This runoff election also unnecessarily cost upwards of $13 million, by contrast, the annual budget for the office of Public Advocate is only $2.3 million.
NYC Comptroller John Liu said, “A city as dynamic and diverse as New York deserves a voting process that is more intelligent and inclusive than the one we have now. Instant runoff voting would compel candidates to focus on issues that matter to New Yorkers in every neighborhood. It would also encourage more New Yorkers to engage in the democratic process and give underrepresented communities a greater voice. Once realized, these changes will ultimately produce a City government that is more effective, responsive, and representative of our ‘gorgeous mosaic.’”
The runoff also imposes substantial time constraints on the board of elections, making it difficult and in some scenarios impossible to mail ballots to absentee voters, including military voters overseas, in time for those voters to receive the ballot, cast their vote, and mail back the ballots postmarked a day before the runoff election.
“Yesterday’s runoff election to choose between the top two candidates from the September primary for Public Advocate was an important opportunity for New Yorkers to participate in choosing our City’s leaders, and people who voted for a second time should be proud to have done so, but our election system should not have required voters to show up twice to vote for the same candidates,” said Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, a longtime advocate of IRV and author of proposed State legislation to replace the City’s separate-day runoff with IRV. “One of the best features of our new scanner-and-paper voting systems is their ability to handle instant runoff voting. We should implement this more democratic, cheaper, and more voter-friendly method of nominating candidates before the next City elections. I applaud my friends Brad Lander and Gale Brewer for their work to enact this change at the City level and I am confident that by changing City or State law we will get this done.”
IRV allows voters to rank their choice of candidates on the primary ballot, eliminating the need for separate runoff at the polls three weeks later and ensuring whoever wins has captured substantial support from the voters. If no candidate exceeds the required threshold to win the primary election outright, the primary ballots are recanvassed. The highest ranked candidate on each ballot that is not eliminated from the contest receives the vote.
“Yesterday’s results are only the latest example of the incredibly low turnout endemic to the NYC runoff system. Instant Runoff Voting will ensure more voters play a role in selecting their party’s citywide nominees and I look forward to working to bring this critical electoral reform to New York City,” said Democratic Council Nominee Corey Johnson.
Former New York City Board of Elections Commissioner J.C Polanco said, “New York must establish IRV. IRV would not only help streamline the canvassing of votes at the Board of Elections but NYC could also use the additional $13 million to hire teachers, firefighters or cops for our streets.”
“Instant Run-off Voting (IRV) is a cost effective and inclusive solution to executing run-off elections. The current system leaves important elections subject to a shrinking fraction of voters at great tax payer expense. IRV expands our democratic institutions, rather than restricting them as is currently the case,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.
“You don’t need a degree in accounting or political science to see that the city’s current run-off system makes little sense economically and doesn’t ensure maximum participation in elections. NYPIRG supports immediate passage of Instant Runoff Voting for absentee voters in citywide elections without delay and meaningful hearings on IRV proposals for all voters in future city elections,” said Andy Morrison of NYPIRG.
The coalition called for a Council hearing on two IRV bills under consideration. Int. No.1066 would establish Instant Runoff Voting in all City ballots, once voters then approve the change in a referendum. The bill, sponsored by Council Member Brad Lander, would make this the last year New York City ever has to endure a challenging, expensive runoff election. The second bill, Int. No. 1108, would at least allow the City to test instant runoff voting as a pilot program for absentee and military voters. Intro. 1108 is sponsored by Council Member Gale Brewer and has quickly attracted 28 co-sponsors, meaning a majority of Councilmembers support IRV in some form, including Speaker Christine Quinn, according to a Citizens Union questionnaire she completed while running for the mayor.