Philadelphia City Council Endorses Ranked Choice Voting Bill
Patrick Kearns
On May 28, Philadelphia City Council overwhelmingly passed a resolution advising the Pennsylvania General Assembly to enact a ranked choice voting (RCV) bill. House Bill 123 (like ranked numbers, get it?), introduced by Representative Chris Rabb, would give counties, cities, townships, and other municipalities the decision to adopt a ranked choice voting system. The passage of this resolution is a productive step forward to enacting RCV, empowering voters by mounting pressure from Philadelphia among Harrisburg legislators.
What is Ranked Choice Voting?
Ranked choice voting is an electoral policy that allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot by their preference. If there is no initial majority in an election, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the votes for that candidate transfer to the next choice on each ballot. The process continues until some candidate has a majority. This system won’t have a large impact on elections where the winner is clear—but will help in elections that have many choices. It would especially help in cases where similar candidates split a voting block and cause both to lose, even if together they would be a majority. And ranked choice voting is not new—both Maine and Alaska have already enacted the policy, as well as cities like San Francisco, New York and Minneapolis.
Ranked choice voting gives voters the ability to support candidates outside of the establishment parties, while making sure that their vote still productively contributes to the election. Not only does RCV allow voters the choice to vote for candidates that align more accurately with their preferences, it also creates a system where candidates must receive majority—not plurality—support to win the election. Now doesn’t ranking your preferences sound better than feeling obligated to choose the one strategic option each year?
Why does this resolution matter?
As the law stands now, municipalities do not have the ability to enact RCV, including Philadelphia. Philadelphia City Council’s resolution endorsing RCV signals to legislators in Harrisburg that the state’s largest city would like to be given the option to adopt the policy. Despite growing support of RCV across our commonwealth, legislators in Harrisburg have not signaled that they intend to move the bill forward.
The resolution passed by Philadelphia’s City Council is a strong signal from a politically influential group to enact RCV. But we know that the resolution on its own will not persuade Harrisburg. That’s why it's important to join the movement, push forward our momentum and reach out to your State Representative to support the bill!
Seize the moment!
MarchOnHarrisburg has plenty of resources that can help you learn more, take action, and join the RCV movement that pushed Philadelphia City Council to support ranked choice voting! Our website has a dedicated page covering RCV more extensively. We also have RCV letter templates that you can send to your representative to support the bill. Using our voices and reaching out to our representatives is the most productive way to join the momentum right now!
Remember that our voices are stronger together! Get your friends, family, and fellow Pennsylvanians involved in the movement. Share with them what you know—and what you don’t, you can find on our Ranked Choice Voting campaign website!
