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Santa Fe, New Mexico, Amendment 5, Ranked-Choice Voting Measure (March 2008)
| Amendment 5, Santa Fe Ranked-Choice Voting Charter Amendment |
|---|
|
| The basics |
| Election date: |
| March 4, 2008 |
| Status: |
 Approved
|
| Topic: |
| Local electoral systems |
| Related articles |
| Local electoral systems on the ballot March 4, 2008 ballot measures in New Mexico Santa Fe County, New Mexico ballot measures Local electoral systems on the ballot |
| See also |
| Santa Fe, New Mexico |
A city charter amendment providing for the use of ranked-choice voting in municipal elections was on the ballot for Santa Fe, New Mexico, voters on March 4, 2008. It was approved.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of implementation of ranked-choice voting in elections for the following municipal offices: mayor, city councilors, and municipal judges. |
| A no vote was a vote opposed to the implementation of ranked-choice voting in municipal elections. |
Election results
| Santa Fe, New Mexico, Amendment 5, Ranked-Choice Voting (March 2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Yes | 5,659 | 65.0% | ||
| No | 3,044 | 35.0% | ||
- Election results: Santa Fe City Clerk
Text of measure
Ballot question
Approval of the amendment provided for the addition of Section 4.06 to the City of Santa Fe Municipal Charter. The full text of Section 4.06 is provided below.[1]
| “ | Commencing with the general municipal election in March 2010, or as soon thereafter as equipment and software for tabulation of votes and the ability to correct incorrectly marked, in-person ballots, is available at a reasonable price and at all subsequent elections, the mayor, city councilors and municipal judge shall be elected using a ranked choice (sometimes called instant runoff) voting system allowing voters to rank in order of their preference the candidates for each office appearing on the ballot. If, after counting all voters’ first choice listed on their ballots for an office, no candidate receives a majority of votes cast, the candidate with the fewest votes shall be eliminated. Each ballot shall be tallied again for that office counting the vote from each ballot for the highest ranked candidate who has not been eliminated. If still no candidate for that office receives a majority, the process shall be repeated until a candidate receives a majority of the votes for that office.[2] | ” |
| —Section 4.06, City of Santa Fe Municipal Charter | ||
Background
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% |
Aftermath
- See also: Electoral systems in New Mexico
On August 30, 2017, a group filed suit in the New Mexico Supreme Court against the Santa Fe City Council and mayor, requesting that the court order city officials to implement ranked-choice voting (RCV) beginning with the 2018 municipal election cycle. Santa Fe citizens adopted RCV for municipal elections via a 2008 city charter amendment. The plaintiffs in the suit—including Maria Perez, director of FairVote New Mexico, and Santa Fe residents Craig O’Hare, Ellen Ackerman, and Anne Noss—argued that the city's voting machines had met the requirements set forth in the charter amendment and that RCV software had been offered to the city at no cost by the New Mexico secretary of state. In the petition filed with the state supreme court, the plaintiffs' attorneys stated, "Using RCV is not discretionary. The city council cannot delay its implementation once the software is available at a reasonable cost." City officials countered that the prerequisites for implementation had not yet been met. After the council voted in July 2017 to delay implementation of RCV, former city council member Karen Heldmeyer said, "What people present as a very simple idea is in fact very complicated in its execution. On September 21, 2017, a three-justice panel of the state supreme court voted unanimously to reject the plaintiffs' request.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
On September 29, 2017, the plaintiffs refiled their suit. On November 9, 2017, Judge David Thomson ordered city officials "to implement the ranked-choice system or show why it should not have to do so at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 21." On November 29, 2017, Thomson ordered city officials to implement RCV beginning with the city's 2018 election cycle. Perez applauded the ruling: "I think that Judge Thomson's decision is a victory for the voters of Santa Fe, who have been waiting for this for almost 10 years. It's also a victory for democracy in New Mexico." City Councilor Ron Trujillo expressed some concerns about preparing an adequate voter education program in advance of the 2018 elections: "You can say you like it, you can say you don’t like it, but you have to know how it works. If some people think this is too complicated, they might just say, ‘I’m not going to vote.’ … That outreach has got to be huge."[11][12][13][14]
On December 4, 2017, the Santa Fe City Council voted unanimously to implement RCV in the city's March 2018 municipal elections, complying with Thomson's November 29 order. The council also voted 5-4 to appeal that order to the state supreme court. The city's appeal pivots on two questions: whether the state judge who issued the implementation order acted outside his authority, and whether ranked-choice voting is in compliance with the state constitution. City Councilor Joseph Maestas, who voted against appealing the order to the state supreme court, said, "Each individual track [i.e., pursuing both implementation and appeal simultaneously] is in conflict with the other. I'm concerned about injecting confusion into the minds of the voters." Trujillo, who voted in favor of appealing, said that it was necessary to address the constitutionality of RCV: "Once we get a definitive answer on this, then we don't ever have to worry about it again."[15]
On December 20, 2017, the Santa Fe City Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance establishing procedures for ranked-choice voting in the city. Under the ordinance, a majority will be defined as 50 percent plus one of all votes cast for candidates who have not been eliminated in earlier rounds of voting (as opposed to a majority of all votes cast). The council also approved two separate ballot designs, one organized horizontally and one organized vertically; the vertical ballot design was adopted in the event that the horizontal design proves incompatible with existing voting software. A voter education website (accessible here) was launched on December 21, 2017.[16]
On January 9, 2018, a three-judge panel of the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected the city's appeal of Thomson's order, allowing for implementation of ranked-choice voting in March 2018. The panel, which comprised Justices Edward Chávez, Charles Daniels, and Barbara Vigil, ruled unanimously in rejecting the challenge. Perez said, "Now we can really concentrate on implementing this right. We can clear the cloud behind all of it and move forward, 100 percent, full steam ahead with a successful implementation and election." City spokesman Matt Ross said, "This is a disappointment. We hoped the Supreme Court would clarify the constitutional and separation of powers questions before them. While we have an order, we don't have a written explanation resolving any post-election challenge that may arise."[17][18]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Santa Fe ranked choice voting. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Santa Fe, "Municipal Charter," accessed December 5, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ FairVote, "Santa Fe Voters File Lawsuit in Support of Ranked Choice Voting," August 30, 2017
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Supporters still hope for ranked-choice voting for Santa Fe’s 2018 elections," July 7, 2017
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Fight over ranked-choice voting hits state Supreme Court," August 30, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "FairVote New Mexico sues city in effort to get ranked-choice voting," August 30, 2017
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "New Mexico Supreme Court Asks for a Response in Lawsuit Over Ranked Choice Voting in Santa Fe," September 7, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "City attorney argues Santa Fe not prepared for new voting system," September 15, 2017
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Santa Fe responds to ‘instant runoff’ petition," September 16, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "High court rejects petition to force ranked-choice voting in March," September 21, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Ranked-choice petition heads to District Court," September 29, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "New to case, another district judge issues order on ranked-choice voting," November 9, 2017
- ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Santa Fe ordered to implement ranked-choice voting," November 29, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Judge rules city must use ranked-choice voting system in March election," November 29, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "City to pursue dual track on ranked-choice voting," December 4, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Santa Fe City Council sets rules for ranked-choice voting," December 20, 2017
- ↑ Santa Fe New Mexican, "Court clears way for ranked-choice voting in city election," January 9, 2018
- ↑ Supreme Court of the State of New Mexico, "City of Santa Fe v. Thomson and State of New Mexico, ex rel.: Order," January 9, 2018
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