Boston City Council Approves Ranked-Choice Voting Proposal

Fierce debate among Boston City Council members on Wednesday, May 14, centered around whether the city should use ranked-choice voting.

Ultimately, councilors decided in an 8-4 vote to pass the ranked-choice voting election proposal. The proposal still requires the approval of Mayor Michelle Wu and the Massachusetts Legislature before it's pitched to Boston voters to decide via a ballot measure.

The election system would allow voters to list candidates in order of preference and institute an elimination-style runoff if no candidate gets 50% or more of the vote.

Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune supports ranked-choice voting.

"Who wouldn't want candidates who aren't ignoring and only just speaking to their base, but are forced to build a broader coalition?" said Louijeune in an NBC10 News interview. "That's what ranked-choice voting is, and it makes sure that the person who is elected has the majority support of the voters."

According to a Boston Globe report, under Louijeune's proposal, Boston would not use ranked-choice voting in state or federal elections, or in preliminary municipal elections. 

"However, it would increase the number of municipal candidates that would advance from preliminary to general elections: Instead of two candidates facing off in the general elections for mayor and district council seats, four per race would move forward from the preliminary. Eight at-large candidates would proceed to the general election and compete for four seats, as is currently the case," Boston Globe writer Niki Griswold explained.

Paul Craney of Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance argues that the ranked-choice voting system is overall confusing. 

"Before you throw away a system that works, that the city can't even handle on its own, and substitute a very complicated system ... they should really think carefully about what they're about to do," he told NBC10 News.