Question 19 - Ranked Choice Voting

Shall the Village of Oak Park elect its President and Village Board of Trustees by 'Ranked Choice Voting'? 'Ranked Choice Voting' provides each voter with one vote and allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference to maximize the power of their vote. This method of voting would be used to rank candidates for President and Village Board. If approved, the following rules shall apply beginning with the April 2027 consolidated election: (1) voters shall vote by ranking one or more candidates up to the number of candidates in the race (the number '1' is the highest ranking, followed by '2' then '3' and so on); (2) a candidate for President who receives 50% plus one of first rankings and any candidate for Village Board Trustee who receives 25% plus one of first rankings shall be elected; (3) in the event that the President and/or all three Village Board Trustees are not elected by first rankings, tabulation for the unelected offices proceeds as follows: (a) for any elected Village Board Trustee who receives more votes than needed to win a seat, a part of each vote received by that candidate shall be transferred to each ballot's next-ranked candidate who has not yet been eliminated, where the part of the vote to be transferred is the number of surplus votes received by that candidate above the threshold needed to win a seat divided by the total votes for that elected Trustee (the fraction of the candidate's votes that were in surplus of the number needed to win a seat that would be wasted if not transferred); (b) any candidate for Village Board Trustee who receives 25% of the vote plus one after this transfer is elected, and, pursuant to step (a), a part of each vote in surplus of 25% plus one is transferred to the next highest-ranked candidate who has not yet been eliminated; (c) if there are no surplus votes to transfer and all seats are not filled, the candidate with the fewest total votes is eliminated, and votes for the eliminated candidate are counted for each ballot's next-ranked candidate who has not been eliminated; (d) steps (a) - (c) shall continue until a candidate for President is elected with 50% of the vote plus one and three Village Board Trustees are elected with 25% of the vote plus one. Ranked Choice Voting eliminate a primary election for President and Village Board of Trustees. In the event of a Village Board vacancy, Ranked Choice Voting shall be used, and the percentage required for a candidate to be elected shall be based on the number of vacancies. In the event a voter 'overvotes' by ranking multiple candidates at the same ranking, their vote shall be counted up to the overvote. For all declared write-in candidate(s), the ballot shall include a write-in line, and voters may write in a candidate's name and rank that candidate in the same manner as a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot. The election authority for Oak Park shall design and print ballots that allow Ranked Choice Voting and program electronic voting machines to enable Ranked Choice Voting.