Write-In, Ranked Choice Voting Survey Results For Arlington Board

ARLINGTON, VA — Forty-four percent of Arlington voters don't plan to write in the name of a candidate who is not listed on the November ballot for one of the two seats opening on the Arlington County Board, while 35 percent said they do plan to write in the name of a candidate, according to an online survey conducted by Patch.

Twenty-one percent of the survey participants said they are unsure if they will vote for a write-in candidate in the general election for Arlington County Board.

Patch's non-scientific online opinion survey on the upcoming general election for Arlington County Board was open from 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 5 through noon on Monday, Sept. 11. In the online survey, 235 people responded to three questions about the decision not to use ranked choice voting and candidate preferences in the general election for Arlington County Board.

Among the survey participants who said they plan to write in a candidate, former Democratic County Board candidate Natalie Roy's name was mentioned more than a dozen times, while fellow Democratic County Board candidate J.D. Spain was listed once.

Independent Audrey Clement's name was listed several times in the survey by people who plan to write in her name, even though Clement's name is listed on the official ballot for county board.

One survey respondent said: "While I supported two anti-MM candidates, let's go with change, people. Some people just can't change at all, which gets tiresome. Maureen Coffey is a perfectly acceptable candidate, though not as good as Natalie Roy. Give the young woman a chance."

Another respondent who said they plan to write in a candidate said they will be writing in "any anti-Missing Middle candidate."

One survey participant said: "None of your business! You should not even be asking who someone will be voting for. Another way for the Arlington County Democrats to allocate campaign funds."

In the survey, participants were also asked if they voted in the June 20 Democratic primary for county board and whether they voted for pro-Missing Middle or anti-Missing Middle candidates.

Sixty-three percent of the 235 respondents said they voted for anti-Missing Middle candidates as their top two choices, while 20.4 percent of respondents said they voted for pro-Missing Middle candidates as their top two choices. Seventeen percent said they voted for a combination of pro- and anti-Missing Middle candidates as their top two choices.

The survey also asked Arlington voters whether they support the Arlington County Board’s decision to use ranked choice voting in the Democratic primary for county board held in June but not in the general election for county board on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Nearly 73 percent of respondents said they do not support the county's board decision to use ranked choice voting in the primary but not in the general election.

Nineteen percent said they agreed with the county board's decision on the use of ranked choice voting in the primary but not in the general election, while 8 percent of respondents said they were unsure.

Arlington Voters Speak Out

"I am against ranked choice voting. I want to decide who I am voting for. I don’t want that decision to be made by some algorithm," one survey respondent said.

"Like her or not, Natalie was robbed of the opportunity to be on the November ballot," another survey respondent said. "And, now going back to traditional voting, the two Democratic candidates from June are sure to be elected. Having your vote count only once if you chose the top candidate in June was so poorly conveyed as to be unfair to the whole group of candidates."

Along those same lines, a survey respondent said: "Natalie Roy belongs on the ballot; Maureen Coffey is an artificial candidate."

"It disenfranchised those voting for both Cunningham and Roy as 1st and 2nd choice," another respondent said.

"I believe that the process provided an unfair bias against Natalie Roy in this case and disenfranchised voters who supported her positions. The same standard should be continued for the general," a respondent said. "It is even more unfair not to continue the same process for the general, as it may now provide a bias against those who supported Natalie Roy and who vote for Audrey Clement instead."

The use of ranked choice voting in the Democratic primary was confusing and diluted true opinions, another respondent said. "It would appear that my vote for Natalie Roy in the number 2 slot was not counted because I didn't pick a number 3. That this would be the case was not communicated," the respondent said. "This was a transparent attempt to dilute the anti-Missing Middle majority vote by the powers that be. I've used ranked choice voting before in another primary and the rules were different. You did not have to select candidates for all the choices."

Another respondent said they supported the use of ranked choice voting in both the Democratic primary and the general election.

READ ALSO: Majority Oppose Ranked Choice Voting For Arlington Election: Survey

"Same rules should apply in both Primary and General Election," another respondent said.

"Ranked choice voting is more equitable and should be used throughout," a respondent said. "Changing it based on backlash or results undermines the validity of the process."

One respondent said ranked choice voting is good when there is only one seat open. "We should use in the future," they said.

"Even the County Board did not understand possible outcomes when selecting two candidates," another respondent said.

"What in blue blazes is going on here? You start down one path, which seems to be favorable to candidates who didn't get enough votes to win," a survey respondent said. "Now, the County wants to change it? Interesting, and not in a good way."

Another respondent said that the ranked choice voting "as implemented in June was voter fraud" and that the Arlington County Board "decided to not use RCV in the general election so Audrey Clement would not be elected."

"I wonder if they worry ranked choice could work against them in November! The trust in the board has eroded for many of us in Arlington," another respondent said. "Their decisions on density and schools, taxes, an abysmal permitting process, are turning Arlington from a lovely small community with trees, parks and easy access to D.C. into an overcrowded, overpriced, concrete jungle ... very sad!"

Another respondent said that more education is needed to ensure that voters understand the tabulation process but also the intent of ranked choice voting. "Even if a voter did not have a 2nd-choice vote tabulated, that voter's intent on at least one seat was affirmed, as that candidate won," the survey respondent said. "For others, the tabulation process of moving to 2nd- and 3rd-choice votes was part of finding community consensus on a candidate for the 2nd open seat. Time was too short in 2023 to make clear the intent of the new voting process, as well as the tabulation process."

"We should be using ranked choice voting for all elections. The year when two County Board seats are being filled might not have been the best time to start, though," a respondent said.

"Changing the rules from election to election reduces public confidence in the election system," another respondent said. "Pick something and make adjustments. Don't just throw the whole thing away."

Another survey respondent said that the narrative that voters were largely "confused" by ranked choice voting is based "in very little evidence."

"There were no long lines at polling places, poll workers were on hand to explain the ballot, and an overwhelming number of voters who've shared their feelings on RCV and *actually* quoted in other outlets said they understood the ballot," the respondent said.

Another respondent said that the only major poll/survey on the issue (conducted online by Arlington County) showed most voters understood RCV. "Granted, it's not entirely scientific, but neither is this narrative that 'many' voters (Who? Were any voters were interviewed for this story?) were confused," the respondent said.

November General Election Ballot

Appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot for the two seats opening on the Arlington County Board are Susan Cunningham and Maureen Coffey, the winners of the June 20 Democratic primary, Republican Juan Carlos Fierro, and independent Audrey Clement.

The four candidates are running to fill two seats. Both Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey and former board member Katie Cristol chose not to run for re-election in 2023.

The first day of in-person early voting in the general election is Sept. 22. On Tuesday, Nov. 7, Election Day, all Arlington polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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