RepresentWomen's Results On Ranked Choice Voting Are In

Last fall in the leadup to the 2020 United States election, I had the opportunity to speak with Cynthia Richie Terrell, Founder and CEO of RepresentWomen, about why the U.S. performs so poorly on diversity in elected office and what can be done about it. Much of it comes down to structural barriers that favor incumbents who tend to be older, whiter, and male; however, there are remedies to level the playing field, and one of those remedies, ranked choice voting (RCV), took center stage in New York City’s June 2021 primary election.

According to RepresentWomen's research on electoral reforms:

“RCV helps to elect more women to office and is an innovative & effective tool to build a 21st century democracy that better reflects all voters. Between 2010 and 2019, 19 jurisdictions used ranked choice voting to elect municipal officials. Overall, women won 48% of the seats up for election in these cities, about 20 points above the norm.”

The results from New York City further illustrate the power of RCV. As quoted from RepresentWomen’s findings:

Women currently hold 14 of 51 city council seats and are poised to surpass parity on the council this election cycle.

Women lead in 31 (2 R; 29 D) city council primaries. Of the nominees, 29 are likely to win the general election this November; 26 are women of color.

Of the 14 women who previously sat on the city council, 5 are likely to hold their seats as incumbents, 2 have been defeated by women challengers, and the remaining 7 were term-limited out. Of the 7 open-seats previously held by women, women have been nominated to fill 5.

In one of the Democratic primaries for the council, one woman scored a “comeback win” through ranked choice voting. Kristin Jordan (D-09) came out ahead of the incumbent, Bill Perkins, with 50.3 percent of the vote after 13 rounds. She is the only woman who defeated a male incumbent in the council primaries.

Vanessa Gibson received the Democratic nomination for the Bronx Borough President with 53.5 percent of the vote after 3 rounds.

Kathryn Garcia ran an incredibly strong campaign for mayor and finished with 49.5 percent of the vote after 8 rounds, despite being outspent by all of the other leading candidates, according to Open Secrets.

For many first-time and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) women candidates, RCV proved a key factor for their success, as it eliminates the trap of “conventional wisdom” for diverse candidates. In most of these races, women competed without the yoke of “splitting the vote” or “wait your turn” narratives to keep them from running. Additionally, women candidates were adept at coalition building, gaining second and third choice votes, and building grassroots support.

Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley recently reflected on RCV in the Washington Post: “Making it easier to vote, educating voters and encouraging a new pipeline of diverse candidates who are not beholden to powerful interests are the tools that will guarantee our democracy.”

The results in NYC speak for themselves. Want to see more women and women of color leading in office? Take action by learning about and advocating for reforms that level the playing field, such as RCV, in your district. In fact, if you happen to live in Washington, D.C., there is no time like the present, as just this week, Councilmember Christina Henderson introduced the VOICE Amendment Act to bring RCV to voters in the District.