Arlington County, Virginia, has been a pioneer in the implementation of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) within the state. Arlington is now in its third year of this "pilot" and the County Board is debating whether to continue using this method. Thankfully, that trend continues with today's County Board vote to approve RCV in this year's partisan primaries and general election, even if it is still in a "pilot phase". There was some dissent from an unlikely source, however.
With the clock ticking on March deadlines for candidates to file for the Democratic and Republican primaries, the county needed to decide how those elections would be conducted this year.
Quick facts from the county's election office:
- Voters who were "very familiar" with Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) increased from 22% in 2023 to 44% in 2024, while those who "never heard of it" or "didn't understand it" decreased from 23% to 12%.
- The largest groups submitting feedback via the most recent online form were over 70 years old (26%), White (73%), residents of the wealthiest ZIP code 22207 (19%), and homeowners (73%), not fully representing Arlington's younger, renting population.
- Negative responses regarding RCV experience rose from 29% in 2023 to 38% in 2024.
One (opinionated) explanation of this is that the candidates most favored by older, White voters in the county lost to a candidate who was supported by more non-White and younger voters.
This candidate, who is now on the County Board, ended up being the one who dissented from continuing to use RCV this year. J.D. Spain, Sr. abstained from the final vote after expressing concerns about the sub-par efforts the county has taken to educate voters from under-represented communities on how RCV works.
I gave public testimony in support of making RCV permanent going forward, but I'd like to highlight the speaker who came immediately after me: Liz White: "I know RCV isn't without it's challenges... RCV itself isn't difficult, it's just new, and voter education is key to a successful implementation."
Spain pointedly asked "what are we going to do going forward to engage the community? I have heard we need to, but it's going to cost money..." he continued: "I do like Ranked Choice Voting, but there's a wrong way to do the right thing. If you're not willing to put the money up front, and invest in the right way [to educate], then what are we doing?"
As a strong supporter of RCV who is glad the measure was ultimately adopted for 2025, even without Mr. Spain's support, I agree with him and his focus on making sure resources are put to community outreach and education on it.
Also giving public testimony for RCV were Mike Cantwell of Independents for America, Dan Alban, and Carlos De Castro.