Los Angeles

Los Angeles County

Background

In Los Angeles County, there are charter cities that have the autonomy to determine their local electoral rules and general law cities that must follow the general laws of the state. There are cities in LA that use a traditional primary or runoff election system that requires candidates to achieve a majority of votes. If no candidate gets a majority in the first round, then the top two candidates go to a runoff election. There are six charter cities in LA that have this system (Compton, Inglewood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and Redondo Beach).

There are also cities in LA that use a “winner take all” system, which means a candidate wins in one round of an election regardless of whether or not they have achieved a majority of votes. This is also known as a plurality winner.

A Better System for Los Angeles

There is a better way. Ranked choice voting (RCV) gives voters more choice and a stronger voice in elections because voters have the power to rank their candidates in order of preference. Benefits include:

Promotes fairness by ensuring winners earn a majority of the votes and are more broadly representative.
Fosters civil elections by incentivizing inclusive campaigns and coalition building.
Minimizes strategic voting, vote splitting, and the spoiler effect because you always get to vote your favorite first without fear you may divide the community and help elect the candidate you like the least.
Reduces costs by eliminating runoff elections, which saves administrative and campaign finance needs.
Supports greater voter participation because every vote counts in a single high turnout, more representative election eliminates the need for costly, lower turnout, and unrepresentative runoff elections.

How it Works

Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice--first, second, third, and so on. All first choices are counted, and if a candidate has a majority, then they win, just like any other election. However if nobody has a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and those voters have their ballot instantly count for their next choice. This process continues until a candidate receives a majority of votes and is declared the winner.

What You Can Do

To learn more about ranked choice voting in Los Angeles and getting involved, join our google group LA4RCV and get in touch. We encourage you to contact your elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels to express your support of ranked choice voting reform. And, of course, the best way to reform a broken system is to educate others about the solutions. If you are interested in hosting an event in Los Angeles to educate others about RCV, FairVote CA would be happy to provide materials and assist in the planning. Reach out us via email at [email protected]

Charter Cities in Los Angeles

Charter Cities	Voting Geography	Council Size	Voting Method	Election Date
Alhambra	From Districts	5	Plurality	Concurrent with state general
Arcadia	By District	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent even years
Bell	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Burbank	At-Large	5	Runoff	Nonconcurrent odd years
Cerritos	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Compton	By District	5	Runoff	Nonconcurrent odd years
Culver City	By District	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent even years
Downey	By-District & AL	5	Plurality	Concurrent with state general
Glendale	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Industry	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Inglewood	By District	5	Runoff	Nonconcurrent odd years
Irwindale	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Lancaster	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent even years
Long Beach	By District	10	Runoff	Nonconcurrent even years
Los Angeles	By District	15	Runoff	Moving to nonconcurrent even years
Palmdale	By District	5	Plurality	Concurrent with state general
Pasadena	By District	8	Runoff	Nonconcurrent odd years
Pomona	By District	7	Plurality	Concurrent with state general
Redondo Beach	By District	6	Runoff	Nonconcurrent odd years (looking to change)
Santa Monica	At-Large	7	Plurality	Concurrent with state general (may change due to CVRA lawsuit)
Signal Hill	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Temple City	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent odd years
Torrance	At-Large	7	Plurality	Concurrent with state primary
Vernon	At-Large	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent elections held each year
Whittier	By District	5	Plurality	Nonconcurrent even years

Resources

Ranked Choice Voting in Los Angeles County - Policy Paper

Introduction to Ranked Choice Voting

RCV - Where It's Used, How It Works

Improving Local Elections with RCV

Fair Representation With RCV

Cost Savings with RCV

Ensuring Majority Rule Without Runoff Elections

RCV and Underrepresented Communities

News

Los Angeles City Election Turnout Projected to Hit Record Low. Would RCV Help?

Mar 16, 2017

Voter turnout in many city elections is hitting all-time lows. While there is no single reason for such declines, evidence strongly suggests ranked choice voting (RCV) does not lead to lower turnout despite some claims to the contrary, and may even provide a solution for cities like Los Angeles looking to boost turnout when paired with other common sense reforms. Indeed, adoption of RCV has allowed cities to avoid primary and runoff elections that almost always had far lower turnout than the general election.