Advocates pitch ranked-choice voting to Trenton council, pledge local outreach if state bill passes

Larry White, an organizer for Voter Choice New Jersey, presented ranked‑choice voting to the Trenton City Council on April 15, urging the body to consider the system for local and school board elections and to support state legislation that would allow municipalities to adopt it by referendum.

White said ranked‑choice voting lets voters “rank candidates in order of preference” and ensures a majority winner — “50% plus 1 or more of the vote total.” He described benefits including reduced “wasted votes,” less negative campaigning and no need for separate runoff elections because runoffs are built into the process.

White showed examples he said were drawn from California and New York City and told the council the state’s existing voting machines are capable of running ranked‑choice elections. He said legislative proposals now before the New Jersey Legislature would permit voluntary use of ranked‑choice voting for municipal and school board contests; if the bill becomes law and the governor signs it, municipalities could place a referendum on the ballot asking voters whether they want to adopt the system.

Council members asked about local implementation and outreach. Councilwoman Williams said she wanted to understand why residents had asked for the change in Trenton, given other pressing city problems and past votes on a resolution had failed. White said his group has done outreach with local organizations, that it will continue education events and invited the council and residents to an event on May 7 at Trinity Cathedral Synod House where attendees will do a mock ranking exercise. Councilwoman Frisbie urged that voter education would be essential and said a local referendum option would leave the final decision to voters.

Law director Wesley Bridges asked whether a municipality could already eliminate runoffs by local referendum without state action. White replied that a referendum could change whether the city holds runoffs but that the pending state bills would explicitly allow a different counting method — ranked‑choice voting — as an alternative to plurality voting, and the bills as drafted require local voter approval to implement.

The presentation concluded with White distributing fact sheets and event flyers and offering to share his slide deck with the council. No formal council action was taken at the meeting.

Why it matters: proponents say ranked‑choice voting can produce majority winners, reduce costly runoffs and change campaign incentives. Council members emphasized the need for public education and said any local adoption would ultimately require voter approval or follow the mechanics set out in state law.