DENVER — As Denver heads to a runoff in the mayoral election and several city council races, Ranked Choice Voting for Colorado held a news conference Wednesday morning advocating for a switch to ranked choice voting, eliminating the need for runoffs in Denver.
“The problem with the top two runoff is that voters aren't sure that their vote will count,” said Linda Templin, executive director of Ranked Choice Voting for Colorado. “It's worked very well in other cities for over 100 years now, including cities here in Colorado. And we know that it's really easy for voters. You simply say who you love, who you like, and who you can live with. You just rank your choices… if a candidate has a majority of the first choice votes, they win.”
If no one has a majority, Templin said the candidates with no mathematical probability of winning are eliminated. Then, officials transfer votes from eliminated candidates to the next ranked candidate on a voters ballot until someone reaches the number of votes needed to win.
“Ranked choice would save the city over $1.1 million because they wouldn't have to hold a whole separate runoff election,” Templin said.
Denver Clerk and Recorder Strategic Advisor Lucille Wenegieme said Denver’s Election Division has looked into the issue. If voters decide they want ranked choice voting, her office is ready.
“It potentially could (save money). But by the time that we get down to sort of the nitty gritty details, that's what we do here. The clerk and recorders office will be able to give some more accurate numbers,” Wenegieme said. “We've been anticipating that this might be on the voters minds for quite a while. We've actually discussed with city council what some of those options might look like.”
But Templin said there are few more steps her organization has to take before the decision to switch to ranked choice voting reaches voters.
“We are building our committee here in Denver. And what we'll be doing is supporting council in referring ranked choice voting to the voters. And if they don't do that, then we will push for a citizen’s initiative to do that,” Templin said.
Templin said her organization has helped implement ranked choice voting in Boulder, Broomfield, Fort Collins, and she hopes Denver is next.
