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Assembly advances ranked-choice voting ordinance to full Assembly; staff to run public education
Summary
The Assembly moved ordinance 2025-13 (ranked-choice voting) to the full Assembly for introduction, accepted clerk amendments, and directed staff to design a public educational outreach plan on how ranked-choice voting works locally, including multi-seat cascade rules and result timing.
The Juneau Assembly’s Committee of the Whole on June 2 voted to forward the proposed ranked-choice voting ordinance (No. 2025-13) to the full Assembly for introduction and asked staff to develop a public education campaign explaining how ranked-choice voting would function locally.
Deputy municipal clerk Andy Hirsch explained the operational impacts for voters and election timing. "If we move to ranked choice voting, we will have the ability to produce first-rank results similar to the state of Alaska," Hirsch said, adding that full ranking rounds that eliminate lower candidates and determine final winners cannot be run until after the canvass review board certifies ballots. For races with one or two candidates or ballot propositions, early results will generally reflect final outcomes; close multi-candidate races could change after full ranked-choice tabulation.
The ordinance includes a cascade-style option to permit ranked-choice voting in multi-member races (for example, school board seats or assembly districts with multiple openings) without designating separate seats. City staff said Dominion (the voting system vendor) can implement the cascade counting method without requiring designated seats.
What the Assembly decided
- Motion to introduce ordinance 2025-13 (cal version with clerk amendments) at the June 9 regular Assembly meeting: approved by the Committee of the Whole and scheduled for introduction.
- Motion directing staff to develop an educational outreach plan on ranked-choice voting (sample ballots, video, and public information): adopted; staff will prepare materials and suggested public events.
Questions from members
Members asked whether the cascade approach could affect ballot counting speed and whether the Assembly’s reorganization timing would shift. Deputy clerk Hirsch said that first-rank data would be available quickly but final ranked outcomes and subsequent winners in multi-seat races would not be available until after the canvass board completes its review; that process could be delayed by several days under existing code, and the timing could compress reorganization tasks but would not prevent the Assembly from meeting after certification.
Ending
The ordinance will be introduced at the June 9 meeting; staff will prepare and later present public outreach plans and sample ballots in advance of full Assembly deliberations and any public hearings.
