Berkeley, California, Measure I, Ranked-Choice Voting Measure (March 2004)
| Berkeley Measure I | |
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| Topic Local charter amendments and Local elections and campaigns |
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| Type Referral |
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Berkeley Measure I was on the ballot as a referral in Berkeley on March 2, 2004. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported establishing a ranked-choice voting electoral system in Berkeley. |
A "no" vote opposed establishing a ranked-choice voting electoral system in Berkeley. |
Election results
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Berkeley Measure I |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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23,660 | 72.25% | ||
| No | 9,088 | 27.75% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Measure I was as follows:
| “ | CHARTER AMENDMENT — MEASURE I Shall the Charter of the City of Berkeley be amended to authorize the city council to adopt an instant runoff election system upon finding that acceptable voting systems and equipment make it technically feasible, consolidation of City elections with County elections will remain feasible, and the City will not incur additional election costs? | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Support
Supporters
Opposition
Opponents
Background
Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
| Ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures | |
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| Pages: • Ranked-choice voting (RCV) • History of RCV ballot measures • Electoral systems on the ballot • Local electoral systems on the ballot • Electoral systems by state | |
- See also: Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
The ballot measure has played a role in shaping electoral systems in the U.S., including ranked-choice voting (RCV) for state and local elections.
Since 1915, there have been more than 150 ballot measures to adopt or repeal ranked-choice voting systems. Ashtabula, Ohio, was the first jurisdiction to approve a ranked-choice voting measure in 1915.
RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates on their ballots. RCV can be used for single-winner elections or multi-winner elections; when used for multi-winner elections, the system has also been called single-transferable vote or proportional representation. These terms were often used to describe multi-winner RCV before the 1970s. You can learn more about ranked-choice voting systems and policies here.
Local RCV ballot measures
Between 1965 and 2024, 79 ranked-choice voting (RCV) local ballot measures were on the ballot in 58 jurisdictions in 19 states.
- Ballotpedia has located 71 local ballot measures to adopt RCV. Voters approved 52 (78.9%) and rejected 15 (21.1%).
- There were eight local ballot measures to repeal RCV. Voters approved four (50.0%) and rejected four (50.0%).
- The year with the most local RCV ballot measures was 2022, when nine were on the ballot in nine jurisdictions. Voters approved seven of them.
- The state with the most local ballot measures related to RCV is California, where there have been 13.
The following table shows the number of ranked-choice voting measures by topic.
| Local ranked-choice vote measures by topic and outcome, 1965 - April 2025 | |||||
| Topic | Total | Approved | Approved (%) | Defeated | Defeated (%) |
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| Adopt RCV | 72 | 57 | 79.2% | 15 | 20.08% |
| Repeal RCV | 8 | 4 | 50.0% | 4 | 50.0% |
| Total | 80 | 61 | 76.3% | 19 | 23.7% |
Path to the ballot
The Berkeley City council voted 6-3 to put Measure I on the ballot.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of California Sacramento (capital) |
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