State’s small cities should take note of November success in Albany’s multi-seat City Council race
While the Bay Area is abuzz about mistakes counting ranked choice voting ballots in Oakland, Albany quietly did something new.Our city just elected two City Council members using a voting system new to California. The process provides a model for small cities across the state that want to diversify their governing boards without carving up their communities into tiny voting districts.
Albany is one of two cities in California, along with Palm Desert, to use ranked choice voting in a race for multiple seats. The process is similar to ranked choice voting for a single-seat race. But, since Albany voters were choosing two councilmembers, the winners each needed to clear a 33.3% threshold. In 2024, when voters will fill three seats, the threshold will be 25%.
Cities potentially in violation of the California Voting Rights Act should take notice of Albany’s example. Right now, cities using traditional at-large elections in multi-seat elections are increasingly being forced by threat of litigation to divide their cities into districts to ensure more diverse representation. This is because at-large elections generally disadvantage marginalized communities, allowing homogenous blocks of white voters to outvote minority preferences and win all seats.
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