Better Ballot Glendale is a citizen’s initiative seeking to place a charter amendment on Glendale’s September city election ballot which would prevent the kind of runoff election quagmire presently paralyzing the city governments of Mesa and Tempe, and influencing the city governments of Litchfield Park, and Buckeye among others. (For example, on March 11, no candidate in Mesa’s District 5 received more than 50 percent of that district’s votes, triggering a runoff requirement; similarly, four candidates are in a virtual tie for two city council seats in Tempe, requiring a runoff election there, as well.)

The Better Ballot effort seeks to implement Ranked Choice Voting as the city’s vote-counting method, permanently eliminating the need for runoff elections in Glendale. More than 1,000 Glendale residents have shown support for the initiative since its launch in January. The effort enjoys the support of a number of Glendale businesses, churches, and organizations, and has gathered volunteers from all of Arizona’s major political parties. It is supported by FairVote Arizona and by the League of Women Voters of Arizona.

Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to assign a numerical rank to each candidate. No vote is ever “wasted” because each voter’s preference “counts” in each round of tabulation. Ranked Choice Voting saves cities and taxpayers money and time in eliminating the need to fund, schedule, and allocate time and facilities for runoff elections.

Ranked Choice Voting is the method of vote tabulation utilized in a number of American cities including Minneapolis, MN, Cary, NC, Burlington, VT, and Oakland and San Francisco, CA. It is used by political organizations including Utah’s Republican Party, as well as universities, homeowners’ associations, and other nonprofits.