LAFCO staff present ranked-choice voting study showing most errors occur in early rounds; commission asks for more data

LAFCO staff presented a draft report on ranked-choice voting (RCV) and related voting-process analyses and asked for public and commissioner feedback before finalizing the report in July. Jason Fried, LAFCO staff, said the draft compares RCV and the former runoff system, analyzes error rates both in first and final rounds, and includes historical and cross-jurisdiction comparisons.

Fried reported that “about 75% of all your errors occur in the first round” in citywide races and that in Board of Supervisors contests “it was 87%” of errors occurring in the first round. He explained that some errors reflect voter education gaps and that different measurements (first-round errors, final-round errors, any overvote, and exhausted ballots) give different perspectives on whether an error affects final outcomes.

Commissioners asked staff to pull additional detail on exhausted ballots (how many came from voters who ranked only one or two choices) and to compare voter-education approaches with Alameda County. Public commenters echoed both caution and support: Eric Brooks urged keeping RCV to empower third parties and reduce expensive runoffs, while David Carey said it was early to draw causal conclusions and advised caution before making changes.

Following discussion, commissioners moved to continue the RCV item to the call of the chair so staff can gather requested neighborhood-level and Alameda County outreach information and return a revised final report. The item remains a discussion item; no policy change was adopted at this meeting.