Easthampton, Massachusetts, Question 1, Ranked-Choice Voting for Mayor Measure (November 2019)

Easthampton Question 1
Election date November 5, 2019
Topic Local charter amendments and Local electoral systems
Status Approved
Type Referral

Easthampton Question 1 was on the ballot as a referral in Easthampton on November 5, 2019. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported establishing ranked-choice voting for mayoral elections in Easthampton.

A "no" vote ooposed establishing ranked-choice voting for mayoral elections in Easthampton.

Easthampton Voters for Ranked Choice Voting supported two initiatives on the ballot in 2019: Question 1, to establish ranked-choice voting for mayor, and Question 2, to establish ranked-choice voting for city council members.

Election results

Easthampton Question 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		2,297	55.32%
No		1,855	44.68%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:

“

Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the election for the office of mayor shall be conducted by Ranked Choice Voting. A “YES” vote would indicate your support of Ranked Choice Voting for Mayor. A “NO” vote would indicate your opposition to Ranked Choice Voting for Mayor.

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this measure was:

“

Questions #1 and 2 would change the method of voting for single winner city races to an election system in which voters rank candidates by order of preference. In casting a vote, a voter ranks candidates by first choice, second choice and continuing until the voter has assigned a single numerical ranking to each candidate on the ballot or until the voter chooses to stop ranking. A voter’s lower ranked choices will not impact the likelihood of a voter’s higher ranked choices being elected. A ranked choice voting ballot will not preclude a voter’s ability to rank at least 1 write-in candidate. When ballots are first counted, if one candidate receives at least 50% of the first choice votes cast for the office in the election, the candidate is declared the winner. If no candidate receives at least 50% an instant runoff automatically occurs. In an instant runoff, the candidate receiving the least number of votes in the prior round is withdrawn from the election. The highest ranked non-withdrawn candidate of each voter becomes the voter’s first choice vote and that vote is used in calculating the total number of votes for each remaining non-withdrawn candidate. This process repeats until a candidate receives at least 50 percent of the total first choice votes cast for the office in the election at which time the winner is declared. General provisions for ranked choice voting shall be developed by an ad hoc committee and be implemented by the City Council through adoption of an ordinance. Dependent upon funding, the ordinance will be effective for the first regular biennial city election after approval. The budget limitation shall only be applicable for the first election after approval.

”

Support

Easthampton Voters for Ranked Choice Voting sponsored the initiative.

Supporters

Officials

• Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle
• Easthampton City Councilor Thomas Peake

Arguments

• Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle: "Long term, it’s just going to make more viable a mayoral run for more people."

Opposition

Arguments

You can share campaign information or arguments, along with source links for this information, at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Ranked-choice voting (RCV)

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

See also: History of ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures

Between 1965 and October 2025, 80 ranked-choice voting (RCV) local ballot measures were on the ballot in 59 jurisdictions in 19 states.

• Ballotpedia has located 72 local ballot measures to adopt RCV. Voters approved 57 (79.2%) and rejected 15 (20.8%).

• 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 policy direction.

Local ranked-choice vote measures by policy direction and outcome, 1965 - October 2025

Direction	Total	Approved	Approved (%)	Defeated	Defeated (%)
Adopt RCV	72	57	79.2%	15	20.8%
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 through city ordinance by the Easthampton City Council after the council approved and the governor signed Senate Bill 2331, a charter amendment that authorized the city council to provide for ranked-choice voting through ordinance with voter approval.

See also

2019 Measures

• 2019 Measures
• Local electoral systems on the ballot
• Local charter amendments on the ballot
• 2019 legislative sessions

Easthampton

• Easthampton ballot measures
• Easthampton ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Full text
• Election results