Denver weighs ranked choice voting for municipal elections

Why it matters: Ranked choice voting (RCV) would upend how voters choose the city's top officials, including mayor and city council members, while proponents say it could save money, increase turnout and make voting simpler.

How it works: This system lets voters rank each candidate in order of preference, with the candidate who receives 50% or more of first-choice votes winning.

• Yes, but: If the 50% threshold isn't met immediately, the tallying repeats until a candidate gets 50% or more of the first-choice votes, creating an "instant runoff."
• Candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated, and those ballots count toward each voter's next-ranked pick.

Between the lines: RCV would eliminate runoff elections, which in Denver occur as separate contests about two months after the initial election.

• Runoffs come with a roughly $2 million price tag, City Clerk and Recorder Paul López tells us.

What they're saying: Councilmember Sarah Parady, who sponsored the RCV measure, said during Monday's meeting that Denver's current spring election may run afoul of a new state voting right's law.

• The city could face a legal challenge due to lack of racial parity in voter turnout during municipal elections, Parady said.

The other side: Councilmember Kevin Flynn said this method can result in reduced voter turnout, noting a downturn in some parts of Portland after introducing RCV last year.

• While supporters say it can lead to more candidates of color, Councilmember Jamie Torres said she doesn't think this is an issue in Denver, noting the council's historically diverse makeup.

The intrigue: López, who oversees city elections, in a letter to council said he's not taking a formal position on ranked choice voting, though he noted the city's election systems are capable of adopting the method.

• Boulder, Minneapolis and San Francisco are among the cities that use RCV.

Friction point: Council on Monday also discussed a separate proposal requiring separate ballots for the two at-large seats on the 13-member council — something López in his letter said cannot be implemented simultaneously as ranked choice voting.

• Voters currently choose at-large seats by selecting up to two candidates (though not everyone does this).

Flashback: The city briefly used this RCV in the early 1900s before abolishing it in 1935; council briefly reconsidered its use in 2021.

• Last year, voters rejected a statewide measure largely funded by out-of-state billionaires and corporations to adopt ranked choice voting.

What's next: The RCV proposal would require voter approval to be enacted.