Assembly Appropriations Committee Approves Mullin's Ranked Voting Bill

Sacramento – Assembly Bill 1294, authored by Assembly Members Gene Mullin (D-South San Francisco) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. This bill would allow general law cities and counties to use Instant Runoff Voting or Choice Voting to elect local officials. If approved, voters would have the opportunity to rank their candidates in order of preference.

“Cities and counties deserve the opportunity to use the electoral system that best addresses their unique needs,” Mullin said. “This legislation gives cities and counties the flexibility they need to serve their voters.”

This bill addresses the growing interest in using ranked voting systems. Currently, only charter counties or charter cities can use ranked voting. By eliminating the need for a costly runoff election it saves local governments money. The City and County of San Francisco has successfully switched to instant runoff voting. Since it instituted ranked voting, San Francisco has saved $1.2 million per election.

Supporters of this bill include Californians for Electoral Reform, League of Women Voters of California, and Warren Slocum, the Chief Elections Officer & Assessor-Clerk-Recorder for San Mateo County.

Assembly Bill 1294 will now go to the full Assembly for a vote.

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