Large turnout at public comment urges board not to adopt ranked‑choice voting

Multiple speakers at Tuesday’s Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meeting urged the board not to move forward with consideration of ranked‑choice voting (RCV) after a prolonged public‑comment period.

Citizens, including longtime local activists, former election volunteers and several speakers representing organized groups, raised concerns that RCV increases ballot complexity, causes voter confusion and higher error rates among seniors and less‑affluent voters, and could lead to “exhausted” ballots. Some speakers cited recent local experiences in other California cities and county studies they said show higher adjudication rates and greater administrative cost. Several speakers also raised optics concerns about repeated meetings between board members and a private consulting firm, Canyon Snow Consulting, which they said led county listening tours on RCV.

Speakers requested that the board pause consideration, request detailed fiscal impact analysis from the Registrar of Voters, and place any RCV decision on a ballot if citizens request it. County staff did not present a formal recommendation on RCV during the meeting; the comments were part of the meeting’s public‑comment block.