Irvine Approves Ranked Choice Voting by Narrow Margin
Voters backed the new election method by roughly 2,000 votes, a move that could quadruple future election costs.
By Ana Castro ·
Irvine voters approved a shift to ranked choice voting for city council elections by a margin of approximately 2,000 votes. According to the 5 p.m. results released by the OC Registrar of Voters on Wednesday, 51.5% of ballots cast supported the change, while 48.5% opposed it.
The measure, if fully ratified, will take effect in 2028. Under the new system, residents will rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting a single choice. Votes are tabulated by counting first, second, and subsequent choices until one candidate secures more than 50% of the total. This method is also known as instant runoff voting and does not require multiple rounds of balloting.
Currently, Irvine uses a plurality system for district elections. In that format, voters cast a ballot for only one candidate in their district, and the individual with the highest number of votes wins the seat outright. The transition to ranked choice voting will expand the number of options available to voters in each district.
The decision places Irvine ahead of most of its neighbors in Orange County, which currently relies on traditional plurality voting. Huntington Beach is the only other city in the county that may adopt the method soon, following a recent court order.
The approval comes at a time of financial strain for the city. Irvine is managing a rocky budget and a structural deficit estimated at $37 million as of July 1, 2028. Officials project that if current spending levels continue, that deficit could climb to $47 million by the end of the decade.
Preliminary estimates suggest the transition to ranked choice voting will increase the cost of holding elections by a factor of four. The additional expenses will cover the rollout of the new system and voter education efforts.
