VOTING IN CAMBRIDGE
Cambridge's Proportional Representation System and how it works in city elections:
PR - proportional representation - is the ranked choice voting system used in Cambridge. You may cast a vote for as many candidates as you want, giving your #1 vote to the candidate you most favor. Vote for others in descending order of preference. YOUR #1 VOTE SHOULD GO TO THE PERSON YOU MOST FAVOR.
Quota = 10% + 1 of all ballots cast.
The all-important first round counts the #1 votes received by all candidates. Anyone receiving 10% plus 1 is automatically elected. In the last election, 2,182 votes were needed to reach “quota". Fewer than 20% of the population generally votes in local elections and in the last five election cycles City Councillors have been elected with fewer than 2,200 votes each.
A candidate who reaches quota based on their #1 votes is elected. As a part of the round one tabulation, those ballots beyond those the round one winner/s needed to reach quota are “redistributed” downward to the candidate the voter ranked next on their ballot (their #2 choice or even choice #3 if their number two choice has also already been elected on this first go round).
After all of the ballots are redistributed, the candidate with the smallest number of votes (their own #1's plus any round one redistributed ballots) is eliminated. The bottom candidate's ballots then go to the candidate ranked next on that ballot. This redistribution from the bottom (candidates with lowest votes) continues with votes getting added to candidates still in contention (i.e., neither elected nor eliminated). Think of it as taking chips from the bottom of the shortest stack and moving them into other candidate's stack of chips. The remaining stacks get taller. This process continues thereby giving candidates additional votes until nine City Councillors are elected.
PR - proportional representation - is the ranked choice voting system used in Cambridge. You may cast a vote for as many candidates as you want, giving your #1 vote to the candidate you most favor. Vote for others in descending order of preference. YOUR #1 VOTE SHOULD GO TO THE PERSON YOU MOST FAVOR.
Quota = 10% + 1 of all ballots cast.
The all-important first round counts the #1 votes received by all candidates. Anyone receiving 10% plus 1 is automatically elected. In the last election, 2,182 votes were needed to reach “quota". Fewer than 20% of the population generally votes in local elections and in the last five election cycles City Councillors have been elected with fewer than 2,200 votes each.
A candidate who reaches quota based on their #1 votes is elected. As a part of the round one tabulation, those ballots beyond those the round one winner/s needed to reach quota are “redistributed” downward to the candidate the voter ranked next on their ballot (their #2 choice or even choice #3 if their number two choice has also already been elected on this first go round).
After all of the ballots are redistributed, the candidate with the smallest number of votes (their own #1's plus any round one redistributed ballots) is eliminated. The bottom candidate's ballots then go to the candidate ranked next on that ballot. This redistribution from the bottom (candidates with lowest votes) continues with votes getting added to candidates still in contention (i.e., neither elected nor eliminated). Think of it as taking chips from the bottom of the shortest stack and moving them into other candidate's stack of chips. The remaining stacks get taller. This process continues thereby giving candidates additional votes until nine City Councillors are elected.
A METAPHOR: Think of the redistribution process as akin to moving the chips from the eliminated green candidate's stack to stacks of votes for the red and white candidates. While the white stack is taller than the red...IF all the green chips belonging to an eliminated candidate were added to the red candidate's column, that candidate's votes would surpass the white chip candidate's votes. Not a perfect analogy perhaps but a visual depiction of how redistributing from the bottom candidate adds votes to other candidates. This reinforces the value of voting for those people who share similar views...and only those people. If one of your choices is eliminated, those votes will pass to another candidate you favor.
Cambridge Voters for Good Government is a Political Action Committee filed with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance
For more information, email [email protected]
For more information, email [email protected]
