Burlington, Vermont, Question 5, Repeal of Ranked-Choice Voting Measure (March 2010)
| Burlington Question 5 | |
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| Topic Local charter amendments and Local elections and campaigns |
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| Status |
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| Type Initiative |
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Burlington Question 5 was on the ballot as an initiative in Burlington on March 2, 2010. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported repealing the ranked-choice voting electoral system for mayoral elections, and reverting to the plurality voting system. |
A "no" vote opposed repealing the ranked-choice voting electoral system for mayoral elections, therby keeping it. |
Election results
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Burlington Question 5 |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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3,972 | 51.98% | ||
| No | 3,669 | 48.02% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 5 was as follows:
| “ | Shall Sec. 5 of the Burlington City Charter, Acts of 1949 #298 as amended be further amended as follows: Sec. 5. Election to be by ballot; plurality required for method of election; runoff elections. 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 voter or 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 persons receiving a plurality of all the votes cast in a runoff election shall be declared elected. | ” |
Support
One Person One Vote led the campaign in support of the initiative.[1]
Opposition
50 Percent Matters led the campaign in opposition to the initiative.[1]
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 measure was placed on the ballot by a successful initiative campaign. On December 21, 2009, the One Person One Vote campaign submitted about 2,100 signatures to the Burlington City Clerk, which was more than 400 the required amount.[1]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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State of Vermont Montpelier (capital) |
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