Supervisors forward charter amendment to replace ranked-choice voting with runoffs after heated public comment

Supervisor Mark Farrell introduced a charter amendment at the Rules Committee special meeting on June 14 to replace ranked-choice voting for citywide offices with a September primary and a November runoff, while retaining ranked-choice voting for supervisor races. Farrell said the change is aimed at ensuring winners can mount a clear leadership case to voters and to address "voter confusion" and overvote rates he associated with RCV.

The amendment would affect the mayoral race and other citywide offices, including district attorney, sheriff, city attorney, treasurer and public defender. Farrell told the committee he believes RCV "has not really lived up to its promises," arguing it did not reliably curb negative campaigning or guarantee higher turnout and that it "has the ability to produce unintended results." He proposed a mechanism by which a September outright win could be declared if a candidate received more than a 65% threshold, a figure he said he was open to discussing.

Supervisor David Campos and Chair…