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Irvine will decide on ranked-choice voting
Irvine voters are being asked whether they want to join the small but growing number of cities that elect representatives using ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Measure D will be on the ballot this November and if passed would change Irvine’s City Council member and mayoral elections to a ranked choice voting system in 2028.
Irvine voters are being asked whether they want to join the small but growing ranks of cities that elect representatives using ranked choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.
What to keep in mind about these numbers
- For LAist's charts showing vote counts, we get numbers directly from the L.A. County and Orange County registrars of voters for local races. Totals are updated on our site as soon as possible after the registrars provide new tallies. For statewide races, counts come from the California Secretary of State's Office.
- Has your ballot been tallied yet? You can track the status of your ballot here.
- Keep in mind that, in tight races particularly, the winner may not be determined for days or weeks after election day. That's because early voting and mail-in ballots have fundamentally reshaped how votes are counted and when election results are known. The upshot: Ballots can be postmarked up to and including Election Day. They're counted as long as the ballot arrives within seven days of the election and that window contributes to the lag time before results are announced.
- In L.A. County, for example, daily updates on the counting are expected to take place at least once a day — usually around 5 p.m. — through Nov. 13. (There will be multiple updates on Nov. 5 and 6.) Then, the once-a-day counts will resume again on Nov. 17, 19, 25 and 27. The office is scheduled to certify election results by Friday, Nov. 27. In Orange County, there will be multiple updates after the polls close, and then daily updates weekdays at 5 p.m. until results are scheduled to be certified on or before Dec. 3.
- The California Secretary of State is scheduled to certify the election results on Dec. 11.
- Our priority during the vote count will be sharing outcomes and election calls only when they have been thoroughly checked and vetted by journalists. To that end, we will rely on official results and report when candidates concede. Otherwise, we rely on NPR and the Associated Press for race calls. We will not report the calls or projections of other news outlets. You can find more about NPR's and the AP's process for counting votes and calling races here and here.
Wondering how we got here? Here's the backstory to this race:
Official title on the ballot: Measure D — Measure Directing the Use of Ranked Choice Voting for City Council Member and Mayoral Elections after January 1, 2028
You are being asked:Shall a measure that directs, to the extent technically and financially feasible, the use of ranked choice voting for City Council Member and Mayoral Elections occurring after January 1, 2028, be adopted?
What your vote means
- A "yes" vote means: The city will make all efforts to adopt ranked choice voting for elections starting in 2028.
- A "no" vote means: Voting for city representatives will stay the way it is now.
Understanding Measure D
Currently, Irvine uses the typical method of plurality voting to choose the mayor and city council members — voters choose a single candidate in each race, and the candidate with the most votes wins. If Measure D passes, voters in future elections would rank candidates in the order of preference. If your first choice is eliminated, your vote is transferred to your second choice, and so on, until a winner is declared.
To date, seven cities in California have adopted ranked choice voting, according to the advocacy group FairVote. An Orange County judge recently ordered Huntington Beach to adopt the method in order to remedy a history of racially polarized voting. (The city is appealing the decision.) On a larger scale, ranked choice voting is credited with helping Zohran Mamdani win the race for New York City mayor.
Watch the analysis from LAist's OC ballot cram session
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Big spending came from workers’ unions and a conservative donor group. -
Follow along here to track the vote count in the races for Orange County board of supervisors and other offices. -
Amid continued fallout from the Andrew Do scandal and a looming budget deficit, four candidates, including the incumbent, are running to represent District 2.
The history — and context — behind the measure
The Irvine City Council agreed earlier this year to place ranked choice voting on the November ballot with a caveat — if it passes, it will only be implemented if the cost stays within certain parameters.
How it would work
If no candidate wins more than 50% of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and any ballot that ranked that candidate first is transferred to the voter’s second-choice candidate. The process repeats, eliminating the lowest-ranking candidate, until one candidate has a majority of votes.
Irvine voters would be able to rank at least five candidates for each seat up for city council and mayor.
Still confused? Here’s a video from FairVote.org explaining how ranked choice voting works:
What people who support it say
Advocates say ranked choice voting lets people select their preferred candidate, even if they think that person’s chances of winning are slim. They say it ensures victors have a broad base of support (at least as a second or third choice), and helps eliminate the effects of “spoiler candidates.”
What people who oppose it say
Opponents say there’s no reason to change Irvine’s election system. They also say it would be unnecessarily expensive at a time when the city is facing a budget deficit that is projected to reach $47 million by the end of the decade.
Potential financial impact
The cost of switching to ranked choice voting is unclear, but it’s expected the price would go up, at least with the first election under the new method. But there’s a built-in cap: Ranked choice voting will only be implemented if the estimated cost at the time stays at or under 0.23% of the city’s general fund budget, or about $710,000 currently.
Campaign financing
Further reading
- The city’s November 2026 election website, including the city attorney’s impartial analysis of Measure D and arguments for and against.
- The full proposed ordinance
- Irvine puts Irvine puts ranked choice voting on the November ballot — with a caveat: LAist.com
- How New Yorkers embraced ranked choice voting
- How ranke choice voting works: CalRCV
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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