In 2022, Virginia Beach’s government wanted its citizens to know something. Mailed notices and internet advertisements were circulated, and a post by Virginia Beach’s official account on X (formerly known as Twitter) further spread this news, declaring that “Virginia Beach now has 10 NEW voting districts.”
Virginia Beach’s voting system had changed drastically, but it just wasn’t enough for the cause of democracy and representation.
In 2021, noted activist Latasha Holloway and former head of the Virginia Beach NAACP Georgia Allen had filed a lawsuit against the City of Virginia Beach. Holloway v. City of Virginia Beach alleged that the historical ‘at-large’ voting system diluted the strength of minority votes and was impermissible under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
After the District Court took the side of the plaintiffs, a new system was implemented: Virginia Beach would take a much more typical system in which the 10 members of the City Council would be residents of their respective districts, and elected only by residents of their districts.
This change was widely approved of, with the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center finding that 81% of residents preferred to adopt this new “10-1 system.”
Still, Virginia Beach needs more action on voting rights. I personally support the Holloway decision, which has succeeded in improving representation for the diverse population of our city; however, the system that resulted falls short when it comes to true representation.
One of the more glaring examples of this lack of representation is the egregious vote-splitting—a phenomenon that results from multiple candidates of similar policy receiving a fractured share of the vote—that still occurs in Virginia Beach elections.
The example of vote-splitting that inspired me to write this article, in fact, occurred in my own district.
Looking at this screenshot, you might not immediately see anything wrong, and that is no fault of yours. We have become all too accustomed to these fragmented election results in Virginia Beach. Still, I implore you to consider whether it is really democratic for an officeholder, meant to be a representative for the majority of a district, to be elected by only 31% of it.
My qualms are not with Councilmember Barbara Henley, who has carried the confidence of her constituents in the past, but rather with the system as a whole. While I personally do not know in great depth the policy positions of short-term rental advocate Elaine Fekete or avowed Republican Nanette Miller, the fact remains that their votes together could have ousted Henley.
In a system like this, from many candidates that represent the majority of voters versus one candidate that represents a minority, the minority will rule. This is inherently wrong. It is no wonder that, according to a 2023 Gallup poll, only 28% of U.S. adults are satisfied with how democracy is working in America.
This is not a phenomenon that is ending anytime soon. With the number of candidates continuing to enter this year’s mayoral race still ballooning, the city at large will likely soon see this vote-splitting in action.
But what is the solution? Ranked choice voting.
Ranked choice voting, also called Instant Runoff Voting, is an electoral system in which the voters of a given district rank the candidates in order of preference. The first choice votes are counted, and if there is no majority, the candidate with the least first choice votes is eliminated, and their voters reallocated to other candidates based on the second choice. This process repeats until a candidate has a majority.
Ranked choice voting inherently works to elect a consensus candidate, reducing political polarization and encouraging voters to consider all available candidates and become engaged in democracy.
This is not a system without precedent. Whether or not you have heard of this increasingly considered voting system, it is still in use statewide in Alaska and Maine, as well as in localities across the country. In fact, in response to a Virginia law affirming the legality of ranked choice voting for local elections, Arlington County has adopted the system.
Still, the sad reality is that ranked choice voting is not well understood or known by the general public, despite its clear benefits over our current system. Nonetheless, something has to change, and it is my hope that this opinion piece will contribute to continued reform.
As such, my plea to you is this: Inform yourself, inform others, and take action. Voting works, and it can work better.
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