Boston Council Hears Ranked Choice Voting Petition, Sends It to Working Session

BOSTON -- October 10, 2024, Boston's City Council Committee on Government Operations heard nearly four hours of testimony Thursday on a Home Rule Petition to implement top-four ranked choice voting in Boston's municipal elections, with no vote taken and the matter sent to an undated working session. The petition, sponsored by Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, Councillor Julia M. Mejia, and Councillor Henry Santana, would advance the top four candidates, rather than two, out of district preliminary elections and allow voters to rank up to four choices in November general elections. Elections Commissioner Anita Tavares told the committee that new voting machines could cost close to $2 million, and that processing time per ballot would jump from 35-45 seconds to roughly one minute without an equipment upgrade; she said full implementation costs remain unknown. Josh Daniels of FairVote, citing Utah data, told councillors that strategic "bullet voting" decreased by roughly four and a half times when ranked choice was in place, and that nearly 30 percent of available at-large votes went uncast in Boston's 2023 municipal election. Councillor Sharon Durkan said she saw "no evidence" of appetite at the State House to move the petition, while Councillor John FitzGerald noted the absence of any panel presenting arguments against the measure.