LAFCO launches study of San Francisco voting process; public advocates push open-source and alternative voting systems

The San Francisco Local Agency Formation Commission on Feb. 24 opened a staff-led study of the city’s voting process, including ranked-choice voting and alternative systems, and heard public testimony urging greater transparency and consideration of approval and score voting.

Jason Fried, LAFCO staff, told the commission he has collected data and submitted initial questions to the Department of Elections and is preparing follow-up questions. He outlined the legislative calendar for bills affecting election policy and said LAFCO will return next month with a list of higher-priority bills to monitor.

"Today, as it happens to be, is the last day that any bill can be introduced to be considered for this year," Fried said, and he summarized committee and floor deadlines that affect the legislative timeline for related proposals.

Commissioners asked staff to study alternative systems beyond ranked choice. "I’d be more than happy to study any other system," Fried said, but he cautioned that empirical study is possible only for systems that have been used in practice rather than theoretical constructs.

Public commenters focused on transparency and ballot security. One witness from prior San Francisco voting-task-force work recommended a publicly owned, open-source vote-tabulation system with mandatory printed ballots "so no one gets their eyes on it really" is avoided and voter intent is secured. Brent Turner urged prioritizing system security rather than ballot redesign, saying open-source systems can support ranked-choice counting. Clay Schentrup of the Center for Election Science recommended approval and score voting as simpler alternatives with substantially fewer spoiled ballots and noted they can be tallied using ordinary plurality equipment.

Commissioner Marr asked staff to include how voting-rights groups (for example, MALDEF or the Asian Law Caucus) view system impacts on disenfranchised communities; Fried said that is part of his data collection. Several speakers urged engagement with Stephen Hill, a local figure in ranked-choice advocacy, and asked staff to consider future technologies that could allow voters to rank more candidates.

After public comment and discussion, the commission moved to continue Item 4 to the call of the chair for further staff work and follow-up. Fried will return with additional data and a proposed watch list of bills and empirical comparisons of systems in use elsewhere.