MONTCLAIR, NJ — The Montclair Town Council passed a symbolic resolution in favor of ranked choice voting in municipal and school board elections at their meeting on Tuesday.
The resolution supports a proposed state law, S-1622/A-4042, which would allow towns and cities in New Jersey to make ranked choice voting available for local elections if they choose to do so (read the full resolution below, or view it online here).
Montclair’s resolution also “supports the commitment of state resources to increase awareness of ranked choice voting and public education as to the ranked choice voting process.”
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Third Ward Councilman Rahum Williams provided the only “no” vote.
What is ranked choice voting? According to nonpartisan nonprofit Voter Choice NJ:
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“In Ranked-Choice Voting, voters rank as many candidates as they want in order of preference. If any candidate has a majority (more than half) of the first-preference votes, then that candidate is elected. Otherwise, the RCV process builds a majority by eliminating the candidate with the lowest number of votes and transferring votes cast for the eliminated candidate to the voters’ next preference, repeating the process until one candidate has a majority of the votes.”
“Ranked choice voting lets you rank candidates in order of preference, rather than just picking one,” the group says. “Think of your second and third choices as your ‘backup.’”
The group praised the Montclair town council for taking a stand for ranked choice voting, noting that other towns that have show support with resolutions include Hoboken, Jersey City, Red Bank, Princeton, Maplewood and South Orange.
Ranked choice voting can lead to less run-off elections, more candidates running, more “positive” campaigns and less “strategic” voting, supporters say.
Not everyone is on board with the concept, however. Critics have argued that ranked choice voting can result in “trashed ballots,” diminished voter confidence and delayed election results, among other drawbacks.
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