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Burlington, Vermont, Question 4, Ranked-Choice Voting Amendment (March 2021)
| Burlington Question 4 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date March 2, 2021 | |
| Topic Local electoral systems and Local charter amendments | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Referral | Origin Lawmakers |
Burlington Question 4 was on the ballot as a referral in Burlington on March 2, 2021. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the city's charter to elect the city council members through ranked-choice voting. |
A "no" vote opposed this amendment to establish ranked choice voting for city council elections, thereby leaving the existing plurality election system in place consisting of a primary election and a general election. |
Since Question 4 is a charter amendment, the proposed change must also be approved by the Vermont State Legislature and the governor.[1]
Election results
|
Burlington Question 4 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
8,914 | 64.44% | ||
| No | 4,918 | 35.56% | ||
Overview
What did Question 4 do?
- See also: Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
Question 4 implemented ranked choice voting for city council elections beginning in March 2022. Going into the election, city council elections used a plurality voting system.
A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
What was the history of ranked-choice voting in Burlington?
- See also: Ranked choice voting in Burlington
In 2005, Burlington voters amended the city's charter to implement ranked-choice voting for mayoral elections. It was approved with a margin of 64% to 36%. It was used in the 2006 and 2009 mayoral elections. On March 2, 2010, voters decided to repeal ranked-choice voting with 52% opposed to RCV and 48% in favor of it.[2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 4 was as follows:
| “ | Shall the Charter of the City of Burlington, Acts of 1949, No. 298 as amended, be further amended to adopt ranked choice voting for the election of the City’s city councilors beginning with the March 2022 election, through the amendment of City Charter § 5 as follows: § 5 Election to be by ballot; method of election
(a) The election of the mayor[, all city councilors] and school commissioners shall be by ballot, and the person or persons receiving a plurality of all votes cast for any office aforesaid shall, except as hereinafter provided, be declared elected thereto. However, if no person receives at least 40 percent of all votes cast for any office aforesaid, no one shall be declared elected and a runoff election shall be held. The only candidates in the runoff election shall be the two persons receiving the greater number of votes or, in case of a tie, the persons receiving the greatest number of votes or the persons receiving the second greatest number of votes. The chief administrative officer shall within seven days warn a runoff election to be held not less than 12 days nor more than 20 days after the date of the warning. The warning shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the city and posted in a public place. The person or persons receiving a plurality of all the votes case in a runoff election shall be declared elected. (b) All elections of city councilors shall be by ballot, using a system of ranked choice voting without a separate runoff election. The chief administrative officer shall implement a ranked choice voting protocol according to these guidelines: (1) The ballot shall give voters the option of ranking candidates in order of preference. (2) If a candidate receives a majority (over 50 percent) of first preferences, that candidate is elected. (3) If no candidate receives a majority of first preferences, an instant runoff retabulation shall be performed by the presiding election officer. The instant runoff retabulation shall be conducted in rounds. In each round, each voter’s ballot shall count as a single vote for whichever continuing candidate the voter has ranked highest. The candidate with the fewest votes after each round shall be eliminated until only two candidates remain, with the candidate then receiving the greatest number of votes being elected. (4) The city council may adopt additional regulations consistent with this subsection to implement these standards.? | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Support
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Yes on 4: Better Ballot Burlington led the campaign in support of Question 4.[3]
Supporters
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Arguments
- Former Governor Howard Dean (D) said, "It’s worked really well in other places. I personally don’t believe the Burlington experience was perfect. You can get a mayor who’s controversial any time by any system. This doesn’t change human frailties, but what it does do is give us a better process, a more fair process."[4]
- City Councilmember Zoraya Hightower (Vermont Progressive Party) said, "I believe a better ballot initiative helps elect leaders that are more representative of our city and cities across the country."[4]
- Yes on 4: Better Ballot Burlington said on its campaign website, "Ranked choice voting promotes more diverse candidates and winners. Because candidates are not discouraged from running at the risk of being a 'spoiler', ranked choice voting is a system that invites greater participation from more diverse candidates."[3]
Opposition
Opponents
- Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger (D)[4]
Arguments
- Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger (D) said, "[Prior use to ranked choice voting] led to campaigns being very hesitant to define differences and distinctions between themselves on substance because of concerns of alienating second and third votes from other candidates. I was a campaign chair of a mayoral election during that period. I just don’t think it worked well."[4]
Background
Ranked choice voting in Burlington
In 2005, Burlington voters amended the city's charter to implement ranked choice voting for mayoral elections. At the time, it was referred to as instant runoff elections. It was approved with a margin of 64% to 36%. It was used in the 2006 and 2009 mayoral elections.[5]
On March 2, 2010, voters decided to repeal ranked choice voting with 52% opposed to RCV and 48% in favor of it. The measure was placed on the ballot through an initiative campaign after the 2009 mayoral election.[2]
Political parties in Burlington
As of 2021, Burlington, Vermont had five ballot-qualified parties: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Liberty Union, and Vermont Progressive.[6]
Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
| Ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures | |
|---|---|
| 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 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
In Vermont, to amend a city charter the proposal voted upon at the election must also be approved by the Vermont State Legislature and signed by the governor. The proposal approved by the city's voters must be sent to the state legislature with the certified election results within 10 days after the town meeting.[7]
On July 13, 2020, the Burlington City Council voted to refer a similar amendment to the November 2020 ballot in a vote of 6-5. It would have implemented RCV for city council, mayoral, and school commissioner elections. Mayor Miro Weinberger (D) vetoed the measure from appearing on the November ballot, and the council was unable to override his veto with a vote of 8 members.[8]
The Burlington City Council amended the measure to remove mayoral and school commissioner elections. On September 22, 2020, the Burlington City Council voted to refer the amendment to the March 2021 ballot in a vote of 7-5. Mayor Weinberger signed the resolution on October 3, 2020.[9]
See also
External links
Support
Opposition
Submit links to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Footnotes
- ↑ Seven Days, "Can Once-Maligned Ranked-Choice Voting Make a Comeback in Burlington?" February 24, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Range Voting, "Burlington VT repeals Instant Runoff Voting," accessed February 4, 2021
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 Yes on 4: Better Ballot Burlington, "Home," accessed February 3, 2021
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 WCAX, "Ranked-choice voting proponents launch Better Ballot Burlington initiative," January 24, 2021
- ↑ Fair Vote, "A short history of the adoption of IRV in Burlington, Vermont," accessed February 4, 2021
- ↑ Jerrick Adams and Janie Valentine, "Research of state election agency websites and email correspondence with state election agencies," October and November 2020
- ↑ Vermont State Legislature, "Subchapter 002 : Town Meetings And Local Elections In General," accessed March 2, 2021
- ↑ WCAX, "Burlington City Council fails to override ranked-choice veto," August 11, 2020
- ↑ Burlington City Council, "Ranked Choice Voting Resolution," accessed February 4, 2021
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