Arlington Registrar Reports on County's Ranked Choice Election
Full results to be presented at a public hearing in February.
Arlington, VA — Last November, Arlington County conducted its first general election using ranked choice voting. Now the County Board is assessing whether to adopt ranked choice for future elections. At today's Board meeting, County staff presented some preliminary data to inform the Board's decision.
More than 130,000 Arlington residents cast ballots in last fall's election, explained Gretchen Reinemeyer, Director of Elections. Under current Virginia law, Arlington is only permitted to use ranked choice in County Board races, so County Board was the only ranked choice office on the ballot. Roughly 86% of all people who cast ballots chose to vote in the County Board race, said Reinemeyer. A similar share of 2020 ballots included votes for County Board, which suggests ranked choice has not affected voter participation in local elections relative to federal races. Ballots that did not include County Board votes were more common along the metro corridor, where residents are more likely to be recent arrivals and less engaged in local politics.
Reinemeyer also noted that last fall's County Board race included four candidates, while the 2020 race featured only two. Arlington's ranked choice primaries have also featured wide fields, with six candidates running in June 2023 and five in 2024. All of those elections were for open seats, however, and did not include incumbent candidates, so Reinemeyer cautioned that it would be premature to draw conclusions about the impact of ranked choice voting on candidate participation.
Reinemeyer concluded by sharing some general observations gathered from election staff at polling places. "Most voters did not require assistance beyond the basic explanation offered," she said. "Voters who needed assistance with ranked choice voting needed assistance with the whole ballot. It wasn't just specific to ranked choice voting."
The Board will reconvene for a more thorough discussion and public hearing on February 22 as they consider whether to continue using ranked choice in County Board general elections.
In the meantime, Board Member Susan Cunningham took a moment to highlight the ranked choice legislation now before the General Assembly, which would expand the County's authority to use ranked choice voting in elections for School Board. "We don't yet have the permission to do that," said Cunningham. "If we did, it would make sense to do things all one way or the other."
