Nashville voters are one step closer to getting a chance to vote on adopting ranked-choice voting.

The Metro Council voted Tuesday night to move along a Metro Charter amendment that could give voters a chance to adopt ranking choice voting.

Amendment A is among five proposed amendments the council is discussing to put on the Aug. 1 general election ballot. It received the exact 27 majority votes it required to be considered as part of the batch of amendments the council will approve to go on the ballot.

But before it goes on the ballot, Amendment A would have to be approved along with the other considered amendments with another 27 majority vote.

However, before discussion was finished Tuesday night, technical difficulties forced Vice Mayor Jim Shulman to table charter amendment talks until next Tuesday.

What is ranked choice voting?

The Metro Charter amendment proposed by Councilor Dave Rosenberg would allow ranked choice voting starting in 2023 if adopted.

It would apply in elections for mayor, vice mayor, council member-at-large and district council member. Voters would rank candidates in order of preference and a candidate who receives a majority of first-preference votes would win.

If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the lowest vote would be eliminated, with their votes redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the eliminated candidate's voters' order of preference.

Tennessee Elections Coordinator Mark Goins concluded state law doesn’t allow ranked-choice voting.

However, pending state legislation could clear the way for ranked choice voting in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga and Knoxville that could be finalized ahead of the August vote.

In the case it fails, Rosenberg said, the amendment has an "escape hatch" that would allow for the city to revert back to its traditional voting method.

Questions about impact

Currently, state law indicates that only one vote can be cast by a voter per each office, though an amendment can clarify the state's stance to clear the way for Nashville to vote for a ranking system.

Council member Kathleen Murphy said she was against putting on the ballot an amendment that is "inconsistent with state law."

"It sets us up for issues," she said.

Metro Council raised several concerns Tuesday night that a new system would create a heavy-load on the city to educate residents on rank choice, the potential toll it would take on polling sites and lines, and if it would deter voters from voting if they feel that they need to do more research on candidates.

Council member Tanaka Vercher said she did not support the amendment, citing it was not the right time in the current climate in Tennessee with an "anti-voter voter registration" efforts at the state level.

"I just think this is not the best time for us to put this on the ballot as a city," she said. "I think the more we tinker with voting, the more confusion we create and the unintended consequence is that we marginalize some communities even more."

Rosenberg pushed back stating a ranked system has shown to especially benefit marginalized groups in voting.

Council member Freddie O'Connell asked the council not to characterize ranking as an "experiment" but as a proven method that gives "better control over of our electoral system and could save the city from the voter fatigue it has experienced in recent years."

Voting against the amendment were council members Murphy, Vercher, John Cooper, Bob Mendes, Antoinette Lee, Larry Hagar and Delishia Porterfield, who was recently elected to represent the Antioch seat after a special election runoff last month.

Council members Sharon Hurt and Jacobia Dowell abstained from voting.

Before talks were cut short, the council voted 35-0 on a proposal led by Councilor John Cooper that would require certain additional information to be included with annual operating budgets.

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