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Memphis, Tennessee, Referendum Ordinance No. 5677, Eliminate Run-Off Elections (November 2018)
| Referendum Ordinance No. 5677: Eliminate Run-Off Elections |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 6, 2018 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
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| 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 run-off municipal elections and establishing that the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner. |
| A no vote was a vote against eliminating run-off municipal elections and establishing that the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner. |
This measure, Ordinance No. 5677, 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. 5699.
Election results
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Memphis Ordinance No. 5677 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 78,013 | 45.91% | ||
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91,920 | 54.09% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall the Charter of the City of Memphis, Tennessee be amended to provide that in any municipal election held as required by law, the candidate receiving the largest number of votes shall be declared the winner thereby eliminating run-off elections? | ” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Background
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]
Path to the ballot
On October 17, 2017, according to The Commercial Appeal, the Memphis City Council voted unanimously to "instruct its attorney … to draft an ordinance that, if approved, would force another referendum vote in 2018 on whether to repeal" ranked-choice voting (RCV) for city council elections. On February 6, 2018, the Memphis City Council voted 11-2 to schedule a referendum vote on the use of ranked-choice voting in city council elections. The vote took place on November 6, 2018.[6]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Memphis Daily News, "Referendum Ordinance No. 5677," January 5, 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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