Irvine leaders are looking to ask residents if they want to change their elections to a different system known as ranked choice voting — a change that could quadruple election costs if it gets implemented in 2028.
It comes at a time when Irvine leaders are grappling with budget shortfalls that could result in a $47 million deficit in the next five years.
[Read: Irvine’s Budget Deficit Could Lead to Parking Fees and No New Libraries]
Irvine currently uses a plurality voting system for elections. That’s the standard voting system in California where each resident votes for one candidate in each contest.
Irvine uses election districts, so residents can currently vote for one city council candidate running in the district where they live.
Ranked choice voting allows residents to rank all candidates in order of preference.
For example, if there’s five candidates, voters rank their favored candidates one through five and the top-ranked candidates head to a runoff — unless someone gets 50% of the first-ranked votes outright.
Irvine City Council members voted 5-2 during their meeting last week to tell city staff to prepare all the necessary paperwork so the council can vote to place the question on the ballot for November’s election.
Council members are slated to vote on placing the question on the ballot during their next meeting on June 23. Councilmembers Mike Carroll and James Mai voted no last week.
Councilmember Kathleen Treseder, one of the council members who proposed transitioning to ranked choice voting, said she wants to put the question to the voters because of the potential high costs.
“For me, it’s a bit higher than I would feel comfortable with voting on just as a council member given our budget shortfalls right now,” Treseder said at last week’s meeting.
“I am most likely going to support putting this on the ballot as an ordinance to ask the voters. It’s their tax money — they get to weigh whether that’s worth it to them or not.”
Initial costs to implement ranked choice voting for 2028 elections could be as much as four times the cost of a plurality election when taking into account voter outreach and education, according to the staff report included with last week’s agenda.
Long-term costs could be double or triple the amount for plurality elections, the staff report says.
According to estimates from Cal RCV and the RCV Resource Center included with the staff report, costs to implement ranked choice voting for 2028 could be as low as $230,600 or as high as $710,440.
Voter education and outreach to teach residents about ranked choice voting could cost anywhere from $189,000 to $316,000 for 2028, according to those estimates.
Those numbers are rough estimates because the Orange County Registrar of Voters has never conducted an election using ranked choice voting, and extra county costs would likely fall onto the city if they’re the only one using the different system.
“Because the ROV has not yet conducted an election using RCV, estimating the anticipated costs has been challenging,” reads the staff report. “The ROV is attempting to obtain cost estimates for additional hardware and/or software processing fees.”
Councilmembers Carroll and Mai, who voted against moving toward putting the change on the ballot, previously cited concerns about cost and if the new system would be confusing for residents who are used to the plurality system.
During the meeting on June 9, officials also heard a budget update that recapped how the council is facing a $6 million deficit for the current fiscal year and a projected $9 million deficit for the next fiscal year.
[Read: Irvine Wrestles With Budget Shortfall Amid Questions on Future Stability]
Leaders voted to balance the 2025-26 budget with a one-time budget transfer of $6 million from the Asset Management Plan Fund. That transfer helps the city avoid ending the year in a budget deficit but does not solve long-term financial problems if leaders continue to spend more than they make.
Staff said they will return at a meeting in August to discuss long-term financial planning for the 2027-28 fiscal year and beyond.
City staff members also said they’ll be returning with an item for the council to consider charging for parking at the Great Park at their next meeting on June 23.
Some cities in California — like San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley — have already adopted ranked choice voting. No cities in Orange County use that voting system.
Ranked choice voting is also referred to as an instant runoff voting system — in order to win, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of votes.
When using ranked choice voting, all first-choice votes are counted after ballots are initially cast. If a candidate secures more than 50% of those first-choice votes, then that candidate wins.
However, if no candidate secures that majority, then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and second-choice votes are factored into the results for the remaining candidates.
This process continues until a candidate reaches the minimum 50% threshold needed to win. The instant runoff process happens automatically on election night — voters are not required to fill out another ballot.
Since Irvine is a charter city, leaders have the choice to change election systems either by adopting an ordinance through a vote by the city council or by presenting the question to voters through a ballot measure.
[Read: Is Irvine About to Change Its Election System?]
Mayor Larry Agran said ranked choice voting could be beneficial for the city but warned residents not to give it too much credit.
“I can see many attractive features in it,” Agran said.
“I don’t think we should delude ourselves into overpromising what ranked choice voting delivers,” he continued.
Residents at the meeting were split over whether or not to support the new voting system.
“The fact that it would require a significant voter outreach to educate voters should be a clue as to what’s going on here,” Irvine resident Scott Perley said. “It is not an improvement on the voting process, and it does not justify the increased expenditure of funds. There are no real benefits, only costs.”
Supporters argue it gives residents more opportunity to support third-party candidates and reduces negative campaigning.
“I do think ranked choice is something the voters will like because it creates more congenial campaigns and works toward a more congenial and collegial body on the council once the election is over with,” Irvine resident Doug Elliott said at the meeting.
“Let’s do this.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
