Richmond may find itself switching to a primary election system for municipal races, according to unofficial election results updated on Nov. 22 which show Measure J increased its lead slightly, having received 58% yes votes as of Friday afternoon.
Measure L, a competing measure that would set up a ranked-choice system, has received 54% yes votes. Because they are competing measures, if the current trend holds, then the measure with the most “yes” votes will be implemented and the other will not.
Both measures campaigned heavily on the message that the opposing measure would disenfranchise certain voters and lead to election outcomes that don’t reflect the true wishes of Richmond residents.
Measure J, also known as the Richmond Election Reform Act, was placed on the ballot by a coalition consisting of local trade unions and the Richmond Police Officers Association.
It received more money than any other city measure or race on this year’s ballot, through an independent committee called Richmond Votes Matters (sic) that, since August of last year, has raised and spent about half a million dollars.
Another political committee, East Bay Working Families, spent about $36,000 for television spots and mailers supporting Measure L.
Richmond Votes Matters is aligned with the Richmond Police Officers Association and was supported by three trade unions — the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 342, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 302, and the Boilermakers Union Local 549. The group spent more than $200,000 to get Measure J on the ballot.
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The police association’s political action committee also contributed $190,000 to Measure J.
Measure J supporter Don Gosney told Richmondside in an email on Wednesday morning that he was optimistic, although more votes need to be tallied before the county certifies the results.
“We’re grateful that the voters saw through the attempt to bamboozle them into thinking that Ranked Choice would be the most democratic way to elect members of the Council here in Richmond,” he said. “I’m very, very pleased. The lead that we have, almost 1200 votes, I think that is going to hold.”
Measure L, also referred to as the Instant-Runoff Voting Election Reform Act, was placed on the ballot by the Richmond City Council by a 5-0 vote in July, with council members Soheila Bana (D4) and Claudia Jimenez (D6) absent.
The measure was supported by Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action and FairVote Action, a nonprofit organization and lobbying group dedicated to election reform.
Richmond currently has a plurality election system, where the winning candidate only needs to get more votes than any other candidate, as opposed to a majority of all votes cast.
In a pre-election debate between Gosney and representatives from California Ranked Choice Voting, the cost of implementing either measure was a talking point.
Measure J proponents like Gosney have argued that if a primary election is adopted, Richmond would benefit from being able to run its elections on the same schedule as Contra Costa County.
According to the cost comparison shared during that debate, primary elections would cost between $2.50 and $3.50 per registered voter — or $150,000 to $210,000 — for a citywide election.
Dominion Voting Systems, which operates the county’s current system, has the capacity to switch to a ranked-choice option, according to the mayor’s staff. But Richmond would have to pay to have the system implemented and would have to fund the necessary voter education.
A ranked-choice voting model would require a new system through Dominion and would likely require a one-time procurement cost of $150,000 plus $17,500 for onsite support and training and ongoing costs of $70,000 for licensing.
All costs for ranked-choice voting would be in addition to the $2.50 to $3.50 per registered voter, about $150,000 to $200,000 total, per election.
Your reporting is unbiased and fair. Much appreciated.
Thank you, John!