Under current election law, a large percentage of those candidates would probably be elected by less than a majority of voters.

This is nothing new. Candidates in New York City routinely win without majority support. In 2013, the last primary election cycle with a wave of open seats, not a single race with four or more candidates produced a winner with over 50% of the electorate. In the last three election cycles, 63% of multi-candidate primaries were won with less than 50% of the vote, 30% were won with less than 40%, and nearly 10% were won with less than 30%. Candidates rely on a relatively narrow spectrum of the electorate to give them a plurality rather than striving to win the support of a broad constituency.

Is it any wonder we have such low voter turnout, particularly for primaries and local offices? Only 12% of active voters participated in the 2017 primaries. Ranked choice voting pushes a candidate to try to reach beyond his or her base in order to attract more voters. The result is elections in which the winners more truly represent their districts.

Ranked choice voting may also save the city money. At a minimum, it would avoid expensive run-off elections like the 2013 Democratic primary run-off for public advocate, which cost more than $11 million.

The cost of administering elections and the public funding of candidates mean that all taxpayers, including the business community, have an interest in ensuring the city’s election system is fair and achieves the goal of electing officials who represent their constituents. The city spends a considerable amount of money supporting elections. In 2017, the year of the last mayoral election, the city spent $17.7 million in public payments to candidates and nearly $30 million to administer the election. More recently, the city provided $7.2 million in matching funds to 11 candidates for the public advocate special election.

By voting yes on Question 1, in favor of ranked choice voting, we can both save the city money and make our democracy more accountable by helping ensure that our candidates truly represent us.

Kathryn Wylde is the president and CEO of Partnership for New York City.