Voters in Irvine will get to weigh in later this year about whether or not they want to change the city’s election system starting in 2028.

It’s set to appear on November’s general election ballot for registered voters in Irvine amid questions over how much it could cost the city as officials face a looming budget deficit. 

[Read: Irvine Wrestles With Budget Shortfall Amid Questions on Future Stability]

During a public meeting last week, council members voted 4-3 to place a move to ranked choice voting on the ballot. 

Councilmembers Mike Carroll, James Mai and Mayor Larry Agran voted no due to concerns regarding cost and not wanting to rush the change to ranked choice voting, which is often criticized for being confusing.

[Read: Is Irvine About to Change Its Election System?]

Irvine currently uses a plurality voting system for its district elections, meaning residents currently only get to vote for one city council candidate who is running in the district they live in.

In a plurality voting system, the candidate who garners the most votes wins outright.

In a ranked choice voting system, voters get to rank candidates in order of preference.

That means if three candidates are running for a single council district, then voters who live in that district get to rank all three in order of who they would like to see take office the most.

Votes are then tabulated, looping in first-, second- and third-choice votes until a candidate secures the more than 50% needed to win.

For more information about how ranked choice voting works, click here.

Councilmember Kathleen Treseder said the new voting system would help give more residents a voice to support their preferred candidate and would prevent the “spoiler effect” in elections.

“I am confident that if we have ranked choice voting, that it’s going to improve the voice of the voters and have better outcomes,” Treseder said at last Tuesday’s meeting. “I think it will remove this [spoiler candidate] tactic, which is being used by special interests and others.”

Other council members fear the costs that could be associated with ranked choice voting.

Since no other city in the county has ever used that method, the Orange County Registrar of Voters wasn’t able to pass along an official estimate for costs to implement the new system.

Some organizations that advocate for ranked choice voting have estimated it could cost the city up to about $700,000 to implement the system and educate voters, but officials fear that price tag could climb even higher.

“Moving to a new system — can we do that technically? And at what cost?” Mayor Agran said at the meeting. 

“
And this is all speculation, but I’m almost certain you can’t do it for $700,000. We can’t even hold a simple special election in Irvine for $700,000. But to change all the technology and the ballot and everything associated with it — especially when we’re first in — 
I’ve been told would cost millions.”

Mai said his biggest concern was cost.

“If it’s $1.5 million, $2 million, if it’s $3 million, we don’t know, we’re just estimating how much it’s going to cost,” he said. “The ROV [Registrar of Voters] — I’ve tried to contact them and ask them how much it’s going to cost. 
They have not given us a cost.”

It comes as city council members continue grappling with a projected budget deficit that could reach a $47 million structural deficit by the end of the decade.

Irvine City Council members voted to balance the 2025-26 budget with a one-time budget transfer of $6 million from the Asset Management Plan Fund last month. 

Officials also voted to address next year’s $9 million budget deficit by keeping some vacant positions empty, pausing the city’s non-emergency vehicle replacement program and adding a slew of small fees.

Staff said they will return at a special meeting on Aug. 3 to discuss long-term financial planning for the 2027-28 fiscal year and beyond. Leaders are also looking to charge out-of-towners for parking their cars at the Great Park to help increase revenue.

City Clerk Carl Petersen said the city’s last general election cost about $340,000.

As part of the council’s approval last Tuesday night, it included a cost cap that would allow the city to bail out of ranked choice voting if it’s too expensive.

The council’s vote placed ranked choice voting on the ballot for resident consideration, even though exact costs to implement that new system haven’t been determined.

If approved by voters, the city would begin its transition to ranked choice voting for the 2028 election.

However, if the cost to implement ranked choice voting ends up being more than about $750,000, then a safety measure kicks in to keep the city from fully changing voting methods until the next election, when costs will be re-tabulated. 

That exact cost limit will be calculated using a small percentage of the city’s general fund budget for that year, which has not been approved yet.

“I don’t want perfection to be the reason we stop any progress or any change,” Councilmember Melinda Liu said at the meeting. “This is something that will fundamentally change the way Irvine residents choose their representatives, and that decision to adopt it belongs to the voters.”

Councilmember Treseder will write the argument in support that will appear alongside the ballot measure, and Mai will write the argument in opposition.

It also comes as Huntington Beach could also be forced to change to ranked choice voting after Surf City refused to implement election districts.

[Read: OC Judge Orders Huntington Beach to Switch to a New Election System]

Some Irvine council members expressed concern that the new system will be too difficult for some residents to understand, especially seniors or young people learning to vote for the first time.

“Everyone in this room can disagree, but I know in my heart of hearts, voters aren’t going to understand worth a darn,” Councilmember Carroll said.

Other leaders argue Irvine voters are smart and will be able to figure it out.

“Irvine is one of the cities that vote the most … It’s a very smart city,” Councilmember Betty Martinez Franco said at the meeting. 

“The people over here, they read from A to Z, all the ballot measures. So I’m pretty sure they are intelligent enough to actually understand how ranked choice voting works.”

​​Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.