On Thursday the Park City Council unanimously gave direction to move forward with ranked choice voting in the 2025 municipal election.
Parkites will elect a mayor and two city council members to four-year terms this November.
Ranked choice voting was first implemented at Harvard in the 1870s, according to a Utah Valley University study. The first use of the voting method in U.S. public elections was in 1915 by the Ashtabula City Council in Ohio.
It’s grown in popularity in recent years amid criticisms of conventional plurality voting.
Ranked choice voting is an alternative voting method that eliminates primary elections and lets voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots.
If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes — 50% or more — they are declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes are reallocated.
Then, a new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
Park City Councilmember Ryan Dickey, who has voiced support for ranked choice voting in the past, said he’s confident voters will understand the new system.
“People in Park City, I think they’re pretty smart,” Dickey said. “They’re at least as smart as the people in Heber, they’ve figured it out, and we should do it.”
Park City Councilmember Tana Toly, who is the only incumbent that has announced a reelection bid, said a shorter campaign season will lower the costs for candidates.
“Not having a primary is really going to help add more people and less barriers to entry,” Toly said.
It’s unclear if Utah lawmakers will allow cities to use ranked choice voting beyond 2025.
In 2018 legislators passed a bill allowing cities to pilot ranked choice voting through January 2026. A bill to extend the pilot program was not adopted during the legislative session that ended March 7.
Park City officials believe there’s a chance state lawmakers will make an amendment to allow cities to continue to use ranked choice voting in the future.
The next step is for the city council to approve a resolution adopting ranked choice voting. Park City also must notify the Lt. Governor’s Office and the Summit County Clerk about its intention to use the new voting method. Those tasks must be completed by May 1.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
