On September 23, the Greenbelt City Council resumed its discussion with the city’s Board of Elections (BOE) on the implementation of ranked choice voting (RCV) for city elections. Representing BOE were: Nicole Shyong, chair; Steve Gilbert, co-chair; and members Edith Beauchamp, Katy Collin and Michael Hartman. BOE presented a comprehensive report on their recommendations regarding RCV and how city elections should be done.
According to Shyong, in the last election residents voted overwhelmingly on a referendum in favor of bringing RCV to Greenbelt. In order to fully install RCV, amendments to the city charter and a recodification of the city code will need to be done.
BOE recommends that the ballot should allow for up to seven choices ranked in order of preference. In order to be elected, a candidate must achieve at least a 12.5 percent portion of the electorate.
How It Works
In a subsequent interview, Shyong said the election proceeds in rounds, the first tabulating the ballot’s highest rank. In each round, candidates who achieve or exceed the threshold are elected and will not receive votes in the next rounds. Gilbert said that as the rounds progress, the elected candidate’s excess is transferred into the next round and distributed to the remaining candidates according to the ranked choice of the voters.
In the case where no candidate reaches the election threshold, according to Shyong, the candidate with the lowest value is eliminated and is no longer active. In subsequent rounds, the voter’s ballot’s active value is transferred to that voter’s next-highest active candidate. Gilbert added that a special election is another possibility in this instance.
This process resumes until all seven seats are filled.
Shyong said that the election night preliminary results will encompass early, mail-in and in-person voting. Certification will occur once the provisional ballots are counted.
Incorrectly Done Ballots
There was a lengthy discussion on how to deal with incorrectly done ballots, specifically instances where a rank receives multiple choices. In the case of in-person voting, the scanner will be able to register an error, allowing the voter to make corrections on the spot. Regarding mail-in voting, the ranking will be skipped and counting will resume with the next rank.
All agreed that the residents will require significant education on how to fill in ballots in order to avoid undue confusion and more accurate elections. Currently, the BOE has received $7,500 from the city to provide this outreach, with more funds perhaps being earmarked in the next budget.
Mail-in Ballots
Another major issue discussed was whether the city should continue its policy of sending mail-in vote applications to voters or simply send the ballot itself. Cost was a primary factor in this area, as ballots are more expensive and funds will be wasted if ballots end up being unused.
The BOE, Mayor Emmett Jordan and Councilmember Silke Pope felt that the present system should be retained, with the BOE citing the cost problem, and Jordan and Pope feeling that the two-step mail-in process is financially preferable and not an inconvenience to voting.
The rest of council felt that simply sending ballots would make the process easier and increase voter turn-out, referring to this approach’s high success rate in other jurisdictions across the nation and the area. They felt that ultimately no system is perfect.
Shyong said that out of 15,000 applications sent, 2,230 were returned, mostly due to people having moved away. She also shared that out of 1,000 ballots sent, 846 were received.
Councilmember Kristen Weaver stated that the decision over mail-in ballots can wait until the deliberations of the upcoming budget.
Finance Reports
The BOE said that in the last election, some candidates failed to send in a final report of their campaign’s finances. This would mean an inability to run again in a subsequent election. Council felt that this was punishment enough, not requiring an additional penalty, such as a fine.
The BOE pointed out the trend that candidates who spent a significant amount of money tended to be elected, while those who didn’t failed to be elected. Jordan countered that this was not always the case, citing that the personal touch was a strong factor in getting elected.
Next Steps
The crucial next step in implementing RCV will be an adjustment of the city charter and code. City Manager Josué Salmerón said he will likely have drafts in time for meetings in November. Weaver suggested that the charter could have a general statement, while the code could go into greater detail. Salmerón recommended prioritizing the recodification, as it will allow greater transparency for all, as the changes will be available clearly and in real time on the city website.
Salmerón stated that an RFP can be sent out in order to get bids on a RCV vendor familiar with working with small cities. The vendor would be providing ballots, vote scanners and software.
Jordan extolled the BOE for their efforts in this area, as it will result in more fair, transparent and inclusive elections.
In an attempt to reduce financial barriers for candidates, the BOE recommended the $75 fee for campaign sign posting throughout the city-designated sites be eliminated.