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Memphis, Tennessee, Referendum Ordinance No. 5669, Repeal of Ranked-Choice Voting Measure (November 2018)
| Referendum Ordinance No. 5669: Eliminate Run-Off Elections |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 6, 2018 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
|
| Topic: |
| Local electoral systems |
| Related articles |
| Local electoral systems on the ballot November 6, 2018 ballot measures in Tennessee Shelby County, Tennessee ballot measures Elections and campaigns on the ballot |
| See also |
| Memphis, Tennessee |
A referendum on the use of ranked-choice voting was on the ballot for Memphis voters in Tennessee on November 6, 2018.[1] It was defeated.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of eliminating instant run-off municipal elections. |
| A no vote was a vote against eliminating instant run-off municipal elections. |
This measure, Ordinance No. 5669, was one of two measures on the 2018 Memphis ballot concerning the repeal of ranked choice voting (also known as instant runoff elections). The other is Ordinance N. 5677.
Election results
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Memphis Referendum Ordinance No. 5669 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 62,941 | 37.41% | ||
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105,291 | 62.59% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall the Charter of the City of Memphis, Tennessee be amended to repeal Instant Runoff Voting and to restore the election procedure existing prior to the 2008 Amendment for all City offices, and expressly retaining the 1991 federal ruling for persons elected to the Memphis City Council single districts? | ” |
Background
Ranked-choice voting in Memphis
On July 20, 2017, the Shelby County Election Commission announced plans to implement ranked-choice voting for city council elections in Memphis beginning in October 2019. The change was approved by voters as a city charter amendment in 2008, but, according to Elections Administrator Linda Phillips, the change was not implemented at the time because the commission did not think it had the equipment necessary. Phillips said that the city's existing "equipment can capture the voter’s intent, but cannot do the actual tabulation of votes," thereby requiring manual counting of votes; still, Phillips said that ranked-choice voting would be "much cheaper and less trouble than holding a separate runoff election.” The commission announced plans to run a mock election to test the system. The commission also announced that additional ordinances must be passed to address specific policy questions, such as whether ranked-choice voting will apply only to the seven single-member election districts or to all 13 districts.[3][4]
On November 14, 2017, the Memphis Daily News reported that Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins had informed Phillips that RCV is not permissible under state law. In a letter dated September 26, 2017, Goins said, "The process of manually distributing votes and having multiple rounds of reallocating votes to determine the winner is not authorized by any of the current statutes in Tennessee law." Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford, Jr., an RCV opponent, said that he would continue advocating for a repeal referendum and questioned whether county election administrators were attempting to circumvent state law: "It seems that the Shelby County election commission and others have known for over two years that instant-runoff with two opinions is not permitted without a change in state law. Which leads me to my question of conscious disregard for the law." Former Shelby County commissioner and RCV proponent Steve Mulroy said that September 26 letter did not have the force of law and that implementation should proceed: "It’s not a binding court order that forbids the elections administrator from continuing. Unless or until there is a competent authority that orders here to cease and desist implementation will continue."[5]
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
The Memphis City Council voted to put this measure on the ballot.[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Shelby County Elections, "State and Federal General Election & Municipal Elections," accessed October 22, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Commercial Appeal, "Memphis will scrap City Council runoff elections in 2019," July 20, 2017
- ↑ Shelby County Election Commission, "Ranked Choice Voting Demonstration Scheduled for Tuesday’s SCEC Meeting," accessed July 28, 2017
- ↑ Memphis Daily News, "Tennessee Elections Coordinator Says Ranked-Choice Voting Not Permissible," November 14, 2017
- ↑ Memphis Flyer, "Voters Will Decide Whether or Not to Eliminate Council Runoff Elections," February 6, 2018
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