The mayoral election in Oakland, which has been open since 2016, has recently heated up.
Both Loren Taylor and Treva Reid, who are running for reelection to the Oakland City Council for the first time this year, urged their respective bases to consider the other candidate.
Ranked Choice Systems
In the last days before Election Day, politicians in Oakland are forging coalitions and sending out misleading mailings backed by large, anonymous payments.
Also read: Another Murder Oakland police update On the 30-day Plan to Combat Gun Violence
Voters in ranked choice systems is also known as immediate runoff systems. They are like Oakland’s may rank up to five candidates in order of preference.
If no candidate wins a majority of votes after the first tally, the candidates with the fewest total votes are eliminated from the race. Also their supporters’ second choice is awarded those votes.
Order of Preference
This procedure will continue until one candidate has received a majority vote. With this, a winner may not be announced for many days.
Also read: These are the Worst Places in California to Seek for an Affordable Rental
Votes for second place are not wasted. Former state senator Don Perata justifies him. Even though he received the most first-place votes in the 2010 Oakland mayoral election, he still lost to Jean Quan.