Title
Overview and Approval of Ranked Choice Voting Process for the Purpose of Appointing a Councilmember to Fill the Unexpired Term of Position 2
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive an overview of, and move to accept, the process of Ranked Choice voting for the purpose of appointing a Councilmember to fill the City Council Position 2 vacancy.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive an overview of, and move to accept, the process of Ranked Choice voting for the purpose of appointing a Councilmember to fill the City Council Position 2 vacancy.
Staff Contact:
Susan Grisham, Executive Assistant, 360.753.8244
Presenter(s):
Mary Hall, Thurston County Auditor
Background and Analysis:
In October 2020, Councilmembers passed a resolution expressing support for Ranked Choice voting. When planning began to fill the Council Position 2 vacancy, several Councilmembers expressed interest in using Ranked Choice voting to assist with the process of appointing a new Councilmember.
What is Ranked-Choice voting? The voter ranks the candidates in the order preferred to them: First choice, Second choice, Third choice, and so on. If the voters top pick cannot win, their vote counts for their next choice.
How are the ballots counted?
* If a candidate receives a majority (more than half) of the first-choice votes, that candidate wins, just like any other election.
* If there is no majority winner after counting first choices, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Any voter who picked the eliminated candidate as their "number one" will have their vote count for their next choice.
* The process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes in the final round.
If approved by the City Council and at the conclusion of interviews of seven candidates, the selection process will be administered by Thurston County Auditor Mary Hall and Chris Mason of FairVote Washington. Lisa Ayrau...
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