Newly Formed Santa Cruz-based Organization Leads Charge For Better Election System

Group Aims to Place an Electoral Reform Initiative on 2018 City Ballot

Santa Cruz, CA — “Yes on Ranked Choice” is a committee seeking to change the way California votes, with a particular focus in Santa Cruz county. The group, which consists of local organizers and FairVote California, is currently working on placing a proposition on the 2018 city ballot in a response to what many voters express as frustration with the current system of having to choose the “lesser of two evils” or risk “wasting” their vote because of strategic voting.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) makes democracy more fair and functional. It works in a variety of contexts, and in the City of Santa Cruz, would provide a better representation system for the City Council elections.

With ranked choice voting, voters can rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice. Candidates do best when they attract a strong core of first-choice support while also reaching out for second and third choices. When used as an "instant runoff" to elect candidates, RCV results better reflects the support of a majority of voters while also including the will of the minority. When used as a form of fair representation voting to elect more than one candidate like a city council, state legislature, or even Congress, RCV helps to more fairly represent the full spectrum of voters.

The benefits of ranked choice voting have already been seen in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro, and other U.S. cities. RCV makes more votes count and boosts the representativeness of winners. s. Under RCV, candidates are encouraged to appeal to a broader base of voters, campaign with more civility, and opens up politics to more diverse voices that debate the issues that directly impact the community.

Yes on Ranked Choice is currently looking to expand their committee to include more volunteers and is seeking monetary donations interested in fostering a healthier democracy. Yes on Ranked Choice will also be holding a public presentation on ranked choice to further educate the public and answer any questions on Sunday, March 19th from 2PM-3:30PM at the Garfield Park Church, located at 111 Errett Circle in Santa Cruz. You can learn more about the organization at www.yesonrankedchoice.com or on Facebook/Twitter.

FOR INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Faisal Fazilat (Faz) / 760-216-8964 / [email protected]

Pedro Hernandez, Deputy Director, FairVote California / (415) 613-2363 / [email protected]

Website: www.yesonrankedchoice.com

Facebook: @yesonrankedchoice

Twitter: @yesonrcv