Loudoun Supervisors Express Hesitations About Ranked Choice Voting

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — After a presentation on ranked choice voting Wednesday, some Loudoun County supervisors shared hesitations about using the voting method. The board had a discussion but did not take action on ranked choice voting.

Supervisor Koran Saines (D-Sterling) requested the presentation from the Loudoun County Office of Elections and Voter Registration on ranking choice voting, which involves voters ranking candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives a majority of votes through 50 percent or more, they are declared the winner of the race. If no candidate receives at least 50 percent plus one vote, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated, and those votes are distributed based on voters' second choices. The ranked choice voting process would continue until a candidate receives over 50 percent of votes.

Under Virginia code, localities may implement ranked choice voting for city council and county board elections with input from the local electoral board and general registrar. Arlington County is the only Virginia locality using ranked choice voting, but the City of Charlottesville is planning to implement ranked choice voting in its June 2025 City Council primary. Other localities, including Albemarle County and the cities of Falls Church and Newport News are also considering the voting method.

In Loudoun County, only the Board of Supervisors races would be eligible for ranked choice voting and can include primary and general elections. Elections office staff said ranked choice voting would be used every four years only if there are more than two candidates running for a seat. If the board moves forward with ranked choice voting, the elections office staff said the 2027 election would be the first time it is used.

Some supervisors were skeptical that ranked choice voting would be the best method for Board of Supervisors districts.

"I don't necessarily think any of this convinces me that this is a good idea, because it just seems massively complicated," said Supervisor Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles). "I'm not quite sure the problem we're trying to solve with this."

Supervisor Kristen Umstattd (D-Leesburg) expressed concerns about a candidate with the most second place votes ultimately winning a ranked choice voting race.

"When I looked at the literature that is put out by the nonprofit that has put done a lot of research on this, what it indicated to me is much of the time it's the second place finisher who actually wins the election," said Umstattd. "It's not often the first place finisher. So I'm going to be really hard to convince that this is a good idea at all."

Supervisor Caleb Kershner (R-Catoctin) noted one area of confusion would be if some races are on a ranked choice ballot and some are not due to the three-candidate requirement. He expressed concerns that voter confusion may actually discourage voters from casting a ballot.

"I think, quite frankly, if parties want to use it within their system, that's entirely up to them," said Kershner. "But I think when we're dealing with the public and the people, an average person that probably votes once a year in their November election, or maybe they vote twice a year because they go to the primary and then they go to their general election, we should probably keep it as simple as possible."

Vice Chair Mike Turner (D-Ashburn) agreed with Turner about the complications of ballots with two different methods of voting.

"I've been a strong proponent of ranked choice voting based on the concept, based on the theory, but the practical limitations here in Loudoun County with, I think, a relatively marginal benefit, I think argue fairly strongly against it," said Turner.

Chair Phyllis Randall (D-at large) disputed the argument of ranked choice voting being too confusing.

"If this happened during supervisor elections, those are off odd year elections," said Randall. "Voters in off odd year elections are the most involved, the more forward leaning, and the most educated."

Randall said she supported ways to encourage candidates from running, noting that parties often decide their chosen candidates in primaries. However, the chair expressed concerns about the cost of ranked choice voting and the burden on elections staff. She noted that ranked choice voting is something that may work well in a party nomination process.

"I think there's pros, I think there's cons," said Randall. "I think the biggest pros, more people are involved. I think the biggest cons, it costs more and it's harder for you all."

If the 2023 Board of Supervisors election used ranked choice voting, Loudoun County Deputy Director of Elections Richard Keech said the board chair would have been the only eligible general election due to at least three candidates. Saines's Sterling District also drew at least three candidates in the 2019 primary. Historically, the elections office says board seats draw an average two candidates, while Arlington County draws three to six candidates for its at-large board seats.

Keech noted one consideration with ranked choice voting would be delays in election results, especially if a winner isn't declared in the first round of ranked choice. He says ranked choice results cannot be processed until all ballots are processed, including mail-in ballots and provisional ballots. That could delay results by about a week.

Another factor is costs of ballots potentially doubling due to the need for a second ballot for ranked choice voting.

"The state-local ballot is already the longest ballot we run," said Keech. "Adding ranked choice would very likely require the use of two ballot cards per voter."

Gretchen Reinemeyer, registrar for Arlington County, told the board that localities can choose to use ranked choice voting for just primary elections. The registrar acknowledged there were some hiccups with the first ranked choice voting election. In Arlington County's second ranked choice voting election, she said most voters had correctly completed their ranked choice ballots.

"The first year is a big lift. I'm not going to sugar coat it," said Reinemeyer. "There's a definite need to educate the community about ranked choice voting, because it is a new method. By the time we got to our general election, it was basically a non-issue."

If the Board of Supervisors were to pursue ranked choice voting, the elections office said it would do a fiscal impact study, develop a draft voter education plan, and consult with the voting equipment vendor on needed equipment. According to Virginia code, the board would have to vote to implement ranked choice ranking at least 90 days before an election — mid-April for a June primary and early August for a November general election.

The local authority to adopt ranked choice voting will sunset on July 1, 2031, unless re-enacted by the Virginia General Assembly. There is a bill being considered in the Virginia General Assembly to allow ranked choice voting in all local elections.

Another change affecting local elections is legislation that restricts political parties from holding unofficial "firehouse primaries," unless they give fair access to military absentee voters. Loudoun County General Registrar Judy Brown said the elections office has received that guidance from the state. The law provides an exception for special elections and choosing a candidate when none have filed before the deadline.