Shawn Griffiths
On November 3, ranked choice voting will appear on the ballot in 3 cities:
- Irvine, California;
- Honolulu, Hawaii; and
- Longmont, Colorado
In two of these cases, Irvine and Longmont, voters could add to the growing number of cities in their state that use the reform.
In California, 7 cities have already adopted ranked choice voting (RCV). Colorado is not far behind with 5.
But in Honolulu, its residents have a chance to make history. Currently, no city in Hawaii uses RCV. The state capital could be the first.
Each proposal also represents an additional test for RCV at the local level, particularly at a time when it has become increasingly caught up in national partisan politics.
This is not about presidential primaries or state party fights. Voters in these cities will answer a simpler, more fundamental question
Do they want more choices when they elect the people who run their cities?
Three Cities, Three Experiments
The basic concept is the same in all three places.
Voters would be able to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice selections, the last place candidate is eliminated, and those ballots transfer to their voters’ next choice.
Additional rounds of elimination occur as needed until a single candidate has a majority.
But each proposal is unique in its own way.
In Irvine, Measure D would direct the city to use RCV for mayor and City Council elections held after January 1, 2028, where implementation is technically and financially feasible.
The campaign pushing the measure is Voter Choice Irvine and includes support from groups ranging from FairVote and Veterans for All Voters to labor organizations and the Orange County Democratic Socialists of America.
Supporters argue voters should be able to back their preferred candidate without worrying that doing so could help elect someone they oppose.
In Longmont, Question 3C would amend the city charter to allow RCV methods for mayor and City Council beginning in November 2029. A separate Question 3D would rearrange City Council election cycles and only take effect if voters also approve the RCV measure.
Then there is Honolulu, where the proposal would not only make history, but would also make a larger structural change.
Question 5 would replace the city's current two-election process with a single ranked-choice election in November beginning in 2032 for mayor, City Council, and prosecuting attorney.
Right now, candidates can win outright in August if they receive a majority of the vote. If no one gets a majority, then the top two advance to the November general election.
Honolulu officials note that every city official elected in 2024 was decided during the August primary—which tends to draw a lower turnout.
Question 5 would mean only one election in November, allowing all qualifying candidates for the affected contests to compete in the general election.
A majority winner would be determined under RCV.
The Opposition Is Showing Up, Too
The Honolulu proposal also demonstrates how quickly a local election reform can become a partisan fight, especially in a political environment where everything comes down to who benefits—or an assumption of who benefits.
Hawaii Republicans are actively campaigning against Question 5.
State GOP Chair Shirlene Ostrov has relied on a familiar argument: RCV would make ballots more confusing, and voters should be able to cast a single vote without ranking additional candidates.
But Republican state Rep. Elijah Pierick raises a different concern. He believes the system could make it more difficult for conservative candidates to win in a heavily Democratic state.
It is worth noting though that Question 5 only applies to nonpartisan elections in Honolulu. Its application would not extend to statewide contests or elections for the state legislature.
Supporters argue that ranking candidates gives voters more freedom to express their actual preferences and reduces the risk that candidates appealing to similar voters split support between them.
What Happens When Election Reform Stays Local?
The debate over ranked choice voting on the national stage has been hijacked by partisan interests. While the reform has expanded into elections in places like Maine, Alaska, and Washington, DC, 19 states have passed laws prohibiting its use.
Meanwhile, 2026 has only produced 3 RCV ballot measures, fewer than every year since 2019 (except last year), according to Ballotpedia. This could suggest the reform’s momentum is slowing down, but it also makes Irvine, Honolulu, and Longmont unique case studies.
As previously noted, national fights over RCV are often inseparable from arguments over which party, candidate, or ideological faction might benefit. Leadership in both parties have a history of opposing it when they think their own power is threatened.
The 19 states that have banned RCV are controlled by the GOP. But the Democratic Party in DC fought tooth and nail to keep the reform from being implemented in the nation’s capital. Democratic leaders have also opposed it in places like Nevada and Maine.
However, municipal elections offer something closer to a controlled experiment. Each of the 3 cities considering RCV this year have different political cultures, different election systems, and different reasons for considering the reform.
And yet, voters in all 3 places are essentially being asked the same question: Should an election require voters to choose just one candidate, or should voters be allowed to express backup preferences as well?
The outcome in each case could reveal something deeper about how voters view reform. Especially, when that reform is removed from presidential politics and partisan primaries and brought down to the level of mayors and city councils.
Will voters separate it from the national fight? Will they be influenced by arguments that make assumptions over who benefits? Or, will they treat it as a basic question about how they want their own votes counted?
These are questions that will be answered on November 3.