Measure D would replace Irvine’s “choose-one” ballot with ranked choice voting, where candidates must get a majority of the vote to win  {Plurality voting is already considered a democratic method of electing candidates to office}

IRVINE, CA — This November, Irvine voters will have the opportunity to improve {CHANGE} their local elections and strengthen {complicate} representative democracy by voting YES on Measure D, a ballot measure to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV) for future mayoral and city council races.

“Ranked choice voting means voters can vote their conscience every time without fear of wasting their vote,” said Branda Lin, the Director of Voter Choice Irvine. “In Irvine, spoiler candidates and vote splitting routinely result in candidates winning with only a third of the vote. In ranked choice voting elections, this threat is neutralized {spoiler candidates and vote splitting will still occur with RCV} and your vote is never wasted. {there are plenty of examples of ballots being wasted due to confusion on RCV voting}”

With RCV, voters can rank candidates in order of preference — first, second, third, and so on. If a candidate receives more than half of the first-choice votes, they win outright. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who ranked that candidate “number 1” will have their vote count for their next choice {but only if they ranked other candidates, otherwise the ballot if wasted andnot counted}. This repeats until a candidate wins with more than 50% of the votes.

“What we are seeing across the county, state, and country, really, are communities like Irvine organizing to ensure their elected officials represent the will of the people,” explains Arash Sayadi, Orange County Coordinator at CalRCV. “About 17 million Americans live in cities, counties, and states already voting with RCV {RCV is less than one tenth of one percent of ballots all voters use; there are 211 million registered voters in the USA as of November 2024 So RCV affects .085% of all voters}. In these places, we hear again and again that people finally feel like their vote matters and studies show polarization, negative campaigning, and vote-splitting are trending down. It’s Irvine’s turn to enjoy these benefits.”  {Pro-RCV evidence is strongest on perceptions of reduced negativity in local nonpartisan or low-information races and on reduced classic vote-splitting relative to pure plurality. Evidence for broad reductions in affective or ideological polarization is weaker, more theoretical/simulation-based, or contested by observational and experimental work, especially in partisan, polarized U.S. contexts. Many studies note small samples, selection effects (cities that adopt RCV may already differ), measurement challenges, and that RCV is not a cure-all inside a two-party system. Other RCV variants (e.g., more Condorcet-oriented or multi-winner proportional forms) are sometimes proposed as better at moderation than standard instant-runoff.}

Ranked choice voting is used by 17 million Americans across approximately 50 cities, counties, and states, including statewide in Maine and Alaska. This includes seven cities in California, starting with San Francisco in 2004. Since then, six other cities have adopted RCV for their local elections: Redondo Beach, Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, San Leandro, and Eureka. Voters in these cities who were polled on RCV say they understand it, like it, and want to keep it. If Measure D passes, Irvine would become the first in Orange County to adopt this simple, proven reform. {New America overview of U.S. literature: Evidence on interparty/affective polarization is limited and mixed; racial polarization findings are weak or null; overall claims that RCV reliably reduces polarization are hard to sustain with current U.S. data.}

Endorsements pour in across political spectrum

This spring, 100+ residents successfully petitioned Irvine City Council to put the issue on the ballot in November. In just a month, the effort has been endorsed by dozens of elected officials, organizations and Irvine community leaders. Among the endorsers are the Democrats of Greater Irvine and California Libertarian Party.  {Six elected officials have endorsed}

“As a Libertarian, I believe voters should have more choices than simply picking between two parties,” says Woodbury resident, Tiffany Im. ”Ranked choice voting gives us the freedom to look beyond party labels, consider the candidates themselves, and find people our community can come together behind.”  {If five people are running for city council in a district, its the same five choices.  The candidate with the most votes should win.  RCV won’t magically make one candidate better than the others}

Dr. Kev Abazajian, UCI Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Chair of Democrats of Greater Irvine, and University Hills resident, agrees: “When it comes to ranked choice voting, the question is not ‘what is your party?’ it’s ‘do you believe the majority should rule?’ I’m a proud Democrat, but I’m an even prouder American. Our country deserves the strongest possible democracy, and RCV gets us one step closer.” {which year’s budget dictates howmuch might be spent}

If approved by voters, Measure D directs the City of Irvine to transition to RCV starting in 2028, provided technical and financial parameters are met. To protect taxpayers, Irvine will only implement RCV if the cost is under 0.23% of the city budget.

Voting takes place in the upcoming General Election on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.

For more information on the campaign, voter resources, or how Ranked Choice Voting works, visit voterchoiceirvine.org.

For comment, contact Branda Lin, branda@voterchoiceirvine.org.

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Voter Choice Irvine is a coalition of Irvine residents, community leaders, and advocates united by a shared belief that upgrading our election systems is one of the most effective ways to make local elections more representative, competitive, and accountable to voters.

For more information, including links to the official arguments for/against, a mock ballot, and more, click here.