Boston city council support ranked choice voting

 Fair Vote -  Last week the Boston City Council passed a measure to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV).  Mayor Michelle Wu’s office has indicated that she plans to sign the measure – a “home rule petition” that requests authorization from the Massachusetts state legislature to implement RCV. If state lawmakers approve the petition, Boston voters will then decide whether to adopt RCV through a ballot measure.

Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune celebrated the council’s vote:  "This is a historic day for Boston. Today’s vote brings us closer to a more inclusive, representative, and transparent democracy – one that ensures our elected leaders have broad support and are chosen by the majority of voters. Ranked choice voting is not only simple, it’s powerful. It gives voters more voice and more choice."

With Mayor Wu’s signature, Boston will join seven other Bay State cities that have passed home rule petitions seeking to improve their elections with RCV. The largest cities in seven states currently use RCV for their local elections; when implemented, Boston will become the eighth.

Boston has come out strongly in favor of RCV before. In 2020, a ballot measure to implement RCV statewide in Massachusetts failed to pass, but 62% of Boston voters supported the measure.