H 363

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1H.363
2 Introduced by Representatives Hooper of Burlington and Nugent of South
3Burlington
4 Referred to Committee on
5 Date:
6 Subject: Elections; local elections; ranked-choice voting
7 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to permit towns,
8 cities, and villages to opt-in to a uniform ranked-choice voting system for
9 elections of candidates running for single-seat offices.
10    An act relating to town, city, and village elections for single-seat offices
11    using ranked-choice voting
12 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
13 Sec. 1. 17 V.S.A. chapter 55, subchapter 4 is added to read:
14Subchapter 4. Ranked-Choice Voting
15 § 2691a. DEFINITIONS
16    As used in this subchapter:
17(1) “Candidate” means a candidate running for a single-seat office in a
18 town, city, or village that has adopted the ranked-choice voting system
19 pursuant to section 2691b of this title.
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1(2) “Candidate pairing” means a unique dyadic arrangement of two
2 different candidates contending for an office in an election. If N is the number
3 of candidates contending for an office, then the number of candidate pairings is
4 N(N-1)/2.
5(3) “Consistent majority winner” means the sole candidate who is the
6 winning candidate in every paired comparison among all candidates.
7(4) “Paired comparison” or “head-to-head comparison” means an
8 evaluation of two candidates for the purpose of determining which candidate
9 has the greater number of ballots ranking that candidate over the other
10 candidate in the pair.
11(5) “Plurality” means the election outcome in which one candidate
12 receives more votes than any other candidate, but not necessarily a majority of
13 the votes cast.
14(6) “Presiding officer” means the town clerk or an alternative official as
15 provided for in section 2452 of this title.
16 § 2691b. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING SYSTEM; APPLICATION
17    (a) Application. Unless otherwise specified by State law, the provisions of
18 the ranked-choice voting system described in this subchapter shall not apply to
19 the election of a candidate running for a single-seat office in a town, city, or
20 village unless that town, city, or village votes, at its annual meeting or at a
21 special meeting called for that purpose, to have those provisions apply.
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1    (b) Duration. Once a town, city, or village votes to adopt the ranked-choice
2 voting system described in this subchapter, this ranked-choice voting system
3 shall be used in that manner until the town, city, or village votes to discontinue
4 use of the system.
5    (c) Australian ballot system. In order to begin using a ranked-choice
6 voting system, a town, city, or village must be using the Australian ballot
7 system, pursuant to section 2680 of this title, at the time of an election using a
8 ranked-choice voting system.
9 § 2691c. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING SYSTEM; BALLOTS
10    (a) Form of ballot. Notwithstanding any contrary provisions in section
11 2681a of this title, a ballot for an election using the ranked-choice system in a
12 town, city, or village shall allow voters to rank candidates in order of ordinal
13 preference. The names of all candidates on the ballot shall be listed in
14 alphabetical order. The ballot shall allow voters to assign rankings to
15 candidates that are equal to the number of printed candidate names and blank
16 write-in lines.
17    (b) Counting votes.
18(1) A ballot assigning a candidate a lower ordinal preference shall be
19 considered to have assigned a higher ranking to that candidate than to a
20 candidate who was assigned a higher ordinal preference. A ballot assigning a
21 candidate with the lowest ordinal rank shall be considered to have designated
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1 that candidate as the highest-ranked candidate on that ballot and the voter’s
2 first-ranked preference.
3(2) A voter may assign multiple candidates the same ranking.
4(3) Any candidate not assigned a ranking on a ballot shall be considered
5 to have a lower ranking than every candidate assigned with any ordinal
6 ranking.
7 § 2691d. RANKED-CHOICE VOTING SYSTEM; IMPLEMENTATION
8    (a) Implementation. A town, city, or village that has adopted the ranked-
9 choice voting system pursuant to section 2691b of this title shall implement its
10 elections of candidates running for single-seat offices in that town, city, or
11 village in accordance with this section.
12    (b) Tabulation at polling places. All elections using the ranked-choice
13 voting system shall be tabulated at polling places by the presiding officer.
14    (c) Initial tabulation. Upon tabulation of the ballots, if a candidate receives
15 a majority of first-ranked preferences, that candidate is declared the winner of
16 the election.
17    (d) Additional tabulation.
18(1) Upon tabulation of the ballots, if no candidate receives a majority of
19 first-ranked preferences, the ballots shall be tabulated again by paired
20 comparison and examining every possible paired comparison. In each paired
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1 comparison, the presiding officer shall note the winning candidate in each
2 paired comparison or if there is instead a tie.
3(2) Consistent majority winner. If a candidate is the winning candidate
4 in every paired comparison, the candidate shall be declared the winner of the
5 election.
6(3) No consistent majority winner. If there is no candidate who is the
7 winning candidate in every paired comparison, then the winning candidate of
8 the paired comparison involving the two candidates having the most first-
9 ranking preferences is declared the winner.
10 § 2691e. RESULTS REPORTING
11    Results for an election using the ranked-choice voting system shall be
12 published at polling places on the day of the election as soon as practicable
13 after the closing of polling places. Results shall indicate:
14(1) the number of first-ranked preference ballots each candidate received
15 in the initial tabulation; and
16(2) an accounting of the paired comparisons, including a list of all paired
17 comparisons, the candidates in each paired comparison, the number of ballots
18 assigned ranking each candidate over the other candidate in each paired
19 comparison, and the winner of each paired comparison.
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1 § 2691f. RULEMAKING
2    The Secretary of State shall adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 for
3 the proper and efficient administration of the ranked-choice system in towns,
4 cities, and villages.
5 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE
6    This act shall take effect on passage.
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