Updated December 5th 2023

As you know, Hoboken had a runoff election on December 5th for the Ward 1 City Council seat. Run-offs are essential because they are currently the only way to ensure that a candidate has the support of a majority of voters in New Jersey.

We want to highlight:

• Why ranked-choice voting (RCV) is an upgrade to traditional run-off elections.
• The email you can send today to help us unlock Hoboken’s ranked-choice voting (RCV) trigger ordinance. 

New to ranked-choice voting? Learn more about how it works HERE.

Firstly, RCV eliminates the need for a costly and time-consuming second election, thereby saving resources and streamlining the electoral process. RCV will determine a majority winner without a runoff election, eliminating the need for a separate runoff and promoting efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the electoral process.

Secondly, RCV fosters a more inclusive and representative democracy. 

In a runoff election, voter turnout tends to decline, as some individuals may feel disengaged after the initial election or may simply find it difficult to repeat the voting process. RCV addresses this issue by ensuring every vote counts throughout the process. Voters can rank their preferred candidates without fearing wasting their vote on a less popular choice. As the system reallocates votes from eliminated candidates to the next choices on voters' lists, the result is a candidate who commands majority support. This enhances the legitimacy of the elected candidate and encourages a more diverse range of candidates to participate in the democratic process, knowing that their ideas have a fair chance of resonating with voters. 

What can you do to bring ranked-choice voting to Hoboken? Hoboken already passed a trigger ordinance in 2021 that would let Hoboken vote to adopt ranked-choice voting when NJ passes enabling legislation like the Municipal and School Board Voting Options Act. 

So, we need you to step up and CLICK HERE to email your new representative in the State Senate to tell them to co-sponsor RCV-enabling legislation.