LA County Board of Supervisors expansion and ranked-choice voting

July 22, 2024

Dear Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

I am a former Santa Monica City Council member and Mayor, writing to you on behalf of the Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC).

Our position is that (i) the LA County Board of Supervisors would ideally be expanded to 13 members, (ii) our low end of an acceptable increase is to nine members — and that (iii) the goals of broader and deeper representation on the Board for the people of LA County will be best achieved by electing all Board seats by ranked choice voting (RCV), compared to the two-round contingent runoff system you use today.

For this reason, we believe your next phase on Charter Review should include a full evaluation of the advantages of electing Board members in single RCV general elections, compared to the two-round contingent runoff system you use today.

Since the ordinance before you on July 23 would establish a Charter Review Commission — and presumably an initial proper evaluation of RCV to elect the Board would occur there, we strongly recommend that the Board give direction now to the LA County Registrar of Voters to prepare a report on options to implement RCV for Board elections. In that way, the Charter Review Commission can focus on a comprehensive ‘compare and contrast’ evaluation of RCV elections vs. the county’s contingent two-round runoff system, instead of wondering 'if, when and how' it would be possible to implement such a system in time for use when the number of Board members is expanded in 2032.

Additionally, because a growing number of LA County cities are already interested in exploring using RCV for their own elections — and those cities contract with the County to conduct those elections, the Board would be doing the responsible thing now to respond to that interest by ensuing it has all the facts on 'how and when’ RCV could be implemented for use by local governments in the County.

Finally, before your second reading on this ordinance on August 6, the GPLAC will provide you will a list of benefits we believe that use of RCV would provide for County elections. Until then, we want to emphasize how important it is for you to give direction now to the County Registrar of Voters to return with a report on RCV implementation options, in order to best inform the next stage of your Charter Review process.

Sincerely
Mike Feinstein
Secretary, Green Party of Los Angeles County