More Choice Voting Would Have Saved San Diego $4.6 Million in County Supervisor Special Election
Amy TobiaSAN DIEGO, CALIF. - South Bay voters are navigating a monsoon of negative, and often misleading, political ads tied to the July 1 runoff election for San Diego County’s Board of Supervisors. But here’s the kicker: taxpayers are footing a $4.6 million bill for this completely unnecessary second round of voting.
Unnecessary? Absolutely.
Had San Diego County adopted a reform like the “More Choice” voting system, special elections could be reduced to a single round and the race between Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre could already be over. Voters would have ranked their choices in the April 2024 primary, and the candidate with the majority of support would have been declared the winner right then and there.
That means no second election, no $4.6 million tab for taxpayers, and no flood of attack ads and political mailers that distort more than they inform.
What More Choice Voting Does Differently
Instead of forcing voters, and taxpayers, to pay for a costly two-round special election, More Choice voting would let voters rank candidates in a single, decisive election. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the system instantly conducts a runoff by counting voters’ next-ranked choices until someone has majority support.
It’s simple, fair, and transparent. And it's already being used in municipalities across the country.
Would McCann or Aguirre have won under More Choice? We’ll never know. But what we do know is this: the result would be the same, and the process would be cheaper, faster, and far less toxic.
$4.6 Million Could Have Been Spent Elsewhere
According to NBC 7 San Diego, the County Registrar estimates the cost of the runoff election at $4.6 million. That’s money that could have gone toward public safety, infrastructure, or services in the same communities now flooded with campaign spam.
This isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about respect, for voters, for taxpayers, and for the integrity of our elections.
Give Voters More Choice in Chula Vista and San Diego
Recent polling shows clear, data-driven support for reform. In the City of San Diego, 73% of voters said they want more choices in elections, and 63% expressed dissatisfaction with the current political system.
In Chula Vista, a separate poll found that 68% of voters support switching to a More Choice-style voting system that would eliminate costly runoffs for special elections and give voters the power to rank candidates in a single election.
The numbers are clear: across South Bay and the broader San Diego region, voters overwhelmingly support making elections less expensive, less time consuming and more representative.
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