Point of View: Oklahoma City needs ranked-choice voting

Thirteen people filed as city council candidates for Oklahoma City for the election on Feb. 12. Ward 8 will be decided on that date, as voters choose between challenger Lauren Durmus and incumbent Mark Stonecipher. Voters in wards 5 and 6 will have three choices, while those in Ward 2 will pick from five candidates. In those races, if no one receives a majority the top two will go to a runoff on April 2.

The cost for each ward for runoff elections would exceed $15,000. Invariably, some voters who participated for the first election will not cast a ballot in the second. Others who didn't show up in February would in April. We've seen this time lapse from primary to runoff have dramatic effects, such as in the last GOP gubernatorial primary where former Mayor Mick Cornett came in first on June 26 with a solid lead over runner-up Kevin Stitt, only to lose to the future governor in the runoff. Another example was James Davenport being three votes away from a majority in the primary during his 2010 run for state Senate, then losing the runoff.

As separate elections, runoffs are an additional cost to the taxpayer. With different and usually much lower turnout, they often produce a result that doesn't reflect the will of the primary voters. A process that would combine the runoff with the primary, save taxpayer dollars, be more convenient for voters and eliminate the effects of lower turnout would be an obvious improvement. Fortunately, such a process exists.

Ranked-choice voting allows a voter to mark a ballot for not just their first choice but also a second and third, continuing to rank all the candidates of whom they approve until the list is exhausted. Also called instant-runoff voting, this method is used in numerous countries around the world, several cities across the United States, and for state and federal elections in Maine. If no candidate achieves a majority after the first choice votes are counted, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those ballots have the second choice votes counted and added to the total. This process is continued until there is a candidate who does have a majority and becomes the winner.

Ranked-choice voting has other benefits in addition to saving time and money and preserving the will of the voters. Candidates will be discouraged from negative campaigning and potentially losing the chance to be a second or third choice. Voters won't have to worry about "wasting" their vote out of fear that their most preferred candidate might not be able to get enough support to win. And whomever is elected is guaranteed to have received majority support.

Oklahoma City should take the lead in electoral reform by enacting ranked-choice voting for municipal elections, a process that will encourage positive campaigns and increased participation with greater diversity of candidates and a higher degree of confidence for the voter that their ballot counts. Ranked-choice would mean more and better choices on election day.

Powell was the Libertarian Party nominee for governor in 2018.