County elections official: ranked-choice would have affected few Ithaca contests; certification and training are major costs

Tompkins County Democratic Commissioner of Elections Steve DeWitt told the Charter Revision Commission that ranked-choice voting (RCV) would have affected a small fraction of city contests in the last two decades and that major barriers to adoption are certification, equipment and voter training.

"Over the last 20 years, ranked choice voting would have had an impact in fewer than 5% of the elections that we run in the city of Ithaca," DeWitt said, summarizing historical contest data from 2006 through 2025. He said the county ran 92 contests in that period: 55 uncontested, 26 two-candidate contests, 10 three-candidate contests and one five-candidate contest; in races with more than two candidates, seven winners exceeded 50% and four winners were under 50% but above 40%.

DeWitt described vendor and certification costs associated with RCV tabulation. He said the county's vendor has tabulation software that could handle RCV but is not certified in New York. "You're looking at probably about $35,000 for the software for the first year and then there would be an additional yearly fee for that software," DeWitt said, adding that if the New York State Board of Elections required formal certification the certification process could "easily exceed $100,000" and would likely be borne by the city if Ithaca were the sole municipality using it.

On open primaries, DeWitt told commissioners that state and party rules limit municipal authority: "Are open primaries permissible in New York state? And the answer to that is no," he said, noting only a party could authorize such a change under its internal rules and that none of the four major parties in New York currently permit open primaries.

DeWitt also provided cost estimates for special elections. He said a ward-level special election would cost about $10,540 (covering poll-worker pay and equipment movement) while a citywide special election would be roughly $21,220; he added that compressed nomination timelines and administrative burdens can make special elections difficult and expensive for municipalities to operate.

Public commenters at the start of the meeting had mixed views. Sam Poole argued RCV would prevent the spoiler effect and recommended careful voter education and equipment replacement if Ithaca adopts it; Jeffrey Chung urged preserving small wards and warned that reducing ward numbers or moving to at-large representation could raise barriers for less-funded candidates.

DeWitt's answers provoked follow-up questions from commissioners about voting costs, redistricting timing, and whether decennial redistricting required holding elections for all seats simultaneously. He advised that some redistricting choices could raise federal issues such as Voting Rights Act compliance and that many operational details remain subject to county and state rules.

The commission took DeWitt's recommendations as operational input to weigh when considering whether to include election-method provisions in any charter changes.

The commission will continue to gather testimony and technical cost estimates as it evaluates whether to propose changes to local election timing or voting methods.