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Electoral system
Electoral systems by state
Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
Academic studies on RCV
Election dates
Election agencies
Election terms
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker

The termelectoral system can refer to the method by which elections are conducted (e.g., whether officials are elected insingle-winner versusmulti-winner systems) or the method by which votes are tallied to determine the outcome of an election (e.g.,plurality systems,majority systems,ranked-choice voting systems, etc.). In the United States, most federal and state-level officials are elected via plurality vote in single-winner contests, although some jurisdiction use other electoral systems.

See the sections below for additional information on the following topics:

1. Background: This section defines and describes methods for conducting elections, including single-winner systems and multi-winner systems. This section also defines and describes various vote-tallying methods, including plurality voting, majority voting, ranked-choice voting, block voting, single voting, and cumulative voting.
2. Electoral systems used in New Mexico: This section outlines the electoral systems used in federal elections (i.e., elections for president and United States senators and representatives) and state-level contests (i.e., elections for state legislators, governors, and other state executives).
3. Noteworthy events: This section summarizesnoteworthy events relevant to electoral systems in New Mexico.
4. State legislation and ballot measures: This section lists state legislation and state and local ballot measures relevant to electoral systems policy.

Background

An "I Voted" sticker.

The termelectoral system can refer to two distinct but related concepts: the method for conducting elections and the method for tallying votes to determine electoral outcomes.

Methods for conducting elections

Generally speaking, elections can take one of two basic forms: single-winner or multi-winner. In a single-winner election, one candidate alone can be elected to the office in question. In a multi-winner election, by contrast, multiple candidates can be elected to the same office.^[1][2]

Asingle-winner system is one in which one candidate is elected for an office. Elections for thepresidency of the United States are single-winner contests; because theUnited States Constitution provides for a single chief executive, no more than one person can serve in that capacity at any given moment. Elections for theUnited States House of Representatives are also single-winner contests, as each district is permitted to elect a single representative.^[1][2]

Amulti-winner system is one in which multiple candidates are elected to an office. Elections for at-large city council seats are sometimes multi-winner contests. For example, there may be threeat-large council seats up for election in a given year. In some of these elections, voters are asked to select up to three choices on their ballots. The top three vote-getters win election to the at-large seats. Some state legislative chambers in the United States usemulti-member districts, which elect multiple members.Proportional representation systems are a specific class of multi-winner systems in which offices are allocated to candidates or political parties in proportion to their share of the total vote.^[1][2][3]

Methods for tallying votes to determine electoral outcomes

Single-winner system methods

Vote-tallying methods for single-winner election systems include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Plurality voting system: In plurality systems, the candidate who wins the largest share of the vote wins the election. The candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected. These systems are sometimes referred to as first-past-the-post or winner-take-all.^[1]
2. Majority voting system: In majority systems, a candidate must win at least 50 percent of the vote in order to win the election. In the event that no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff election is held between the top two vote-getters. For this reason, majority systems are sometimes referred to as two-round systems.^[1]
3. Single-winnerranked-choice voting system: In a single-winner ranked-choice voting system, voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, they are the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. Votes cast for the eliminated candidate are transferred to second-preference choices (if a ballot lists only the eliminated candidate, the vote is considered exhausted and is removed from future tallies). A new tally is conducted to determine whether any remaining candidate has won a majority of the remaining votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority. This system is also known as instant-runoff voting.^[1][4]

Multi-winner system methods

Vote-tallying methods for multi-winner election systems include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Block voting system: In a block voting system, a voter can select as many candidates as there are open seats. The candidates with the greatest number of votes are elected. If, for example, there are three at-large city council seats up for election and six candidates for those seats, the top three vote-getters would win election to those seats.^[1][5]
2. Single voting system: In a single non-transferable vote system, each voter can select one candidate, regardless of the number of open seats. The candidates with the greatest number of votes are elected (for example, if there are three open seats, the three candidates with the greatest number of votes will win the election).^[1][5]
3. Cumulative voting: In a cumulative voting system, each voter can cast a number of votes equal to the number of seats up for election. A voter can allocate all of these votes to a single candidate or distribute them among several candidates. If, for example, there are three city council seats up for election, a voter can cast all three of those votes for a single candidate or split them among the three candidates (e.g., casting two votes for one candidate and one for another, etc.). The candidates with the highest number of votes win.^[6]

Electoral systems used in New Mexico

The states have the authority to determine which electoral systems they will use in contests for state-level offices. The systems used in contests for federal office must adhere to federal constitutional guidelines, as well as applicable state laws.

Federal elections

United States Capitol.

Article II, Section 1, of theUnited States Constitution provides that thePresident of the United States is elected by theElectoral College via majority vote in a single-winner contest. Of the 50 states, all but two award all of their presidential electors to the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote in the state (Maine and Nebraska each award two of their electors to the candidate who wins a plurality of the statewide vote; the remaining electors are allocated to the winners of the plurality vote in the states' congressional districts).^[7]

Article I, Section 4, of theUnited States Constitution grants the states the authority to determine the rules by which they elect their United States Senators and Representatives, unless theUnited States Congress acts to change those rules:^[8]

Article I and the Seventeenth Amendment of the United States Constitution establish that each state selects two United States Senators in staggered elections. In 1967, the United States Congress passed a law requiring that each state establish single-winner districts and exclusively elect their United States Representatives from those districts. Consequently, in every state,United States Senators andUnited States Representatives are elected in single-winner contests. A majority of states determine winners in these contests via plurality vote.

In New Mexico, winners in congressional contests are determined by plurality vote.^[10][11]

State-level elections

All elective state executive officers (e.g., governors, secretaries of state, treasurers, etc.) in the United States are selected via single-winner contests. A total of 41 states conduct only single-winner contests for their state legislative elections. The 9 remaining states conduct multi-winner contests for some state legislative seats: Arizona, Idaho, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and West Virginia. Plurality counts are generally used to determine electoral outcomes, though some states and jurisdictions use other tabulation methods (for example, Louisiana employs a majority voting/two-round system in which a runoff general election is held if no candidate for congressional or state-level office wins a majority of the vote in the first round of voting).^[10]

The table below details the electoral systems used in New Mexico for state legislative and state executive offices as of July 2017.

Noteworthy events

Las Cruces (2018)

On June 4, 2018, the Las Cruces City Council voted unanimously to adopt ranked-choice voting for municipal elections beginning in November 2019. A 40 percent share of the vote will be required for a candidate to win election to an office, in keeping with the city's previous electoral system, which required a runoff election in the event that no candidate for a given office won 40 percent of the vote cast for that office.^[15]

Santa Fe (2017-2018)

On August 30, 2017, a group filed suit in theNew Mexico Supreme Court against theSanta Fe City Council and mayor, requesting that the court order city officials to implementranked-choice voting (RCV) beginning with the 2018 municipal election cycle. Santa Fe citizens adopted RCV for municipal elections via a 2008 city charter amendment. The plaintiffs in the suit—including Maria Perez, director ofFairVote New Mexico, and Santa Fe residents Craig O’Hare, Ellen Ackerman, and Anne Noss—argued that the city's voting machines had met the requirements set forth in the charter amendment and that RCV software had been offered to the city at no cost by theNew Mexico secretary of state. In the petition filed with the state supreme court, the plaintiffs' attorneys stated, "Using RCV is not discretionary. The city council cannot delay its implementation once the software is available at a reasonable cost." City officials countered that the prerequisites for implementation had not yet been met. After the council voted in July 2017 to delay implementation of RCV, former city council member Karen Heldmeyer said, "What people present as a very simple idea is in fact very complicated in its execution. On September 21, 2017, a three-justice panel of the state supreme court voted unanimously to reject the plaintiffs' request.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]}

On September 29, 2017, the plaintiffs refiled their suit. On November 9, 2017, JudgeDavid Thomson ordered city officials "to implement the ranked-choice system or show why it should not have to do so at a hearing scheduled for Nov. 21." On November 29, 2017, Thomson ordered city officials to implement RCV beginning with the city's 2018 election cycle. Perez applauded the ruling: "I think that Judge Thomson's decision is a victory for the voters of Santa Fe, who have been waiting for this for almost 10 years. It's also a victory for democracy in New Mexico." City Councilor Ron Trujillo expressed some concerns about preparing an adequate voter education program in advance of the 2018 elections: "You can say you like it, you can say you don’t like it, but you have to know how it works. If some people think this is too complicated, they might just say, ‘I’m not going to vote.’ … That outreach has got to be huge."^{[24][25][26][27]}

On December 4, 2017, the Santa Fe City Council voted unanimously to implement RCV in the city's March 2018 municipal elections, complying with Thomson's November 29 order. The council also voted 5-4 to appeal that order to the state supreme court. The city's appeal pivots on two questions: whether the state judge who issued the implementation order acted outside his authority, and whether ranked-choice voting is in compliance with the state constitution. City Councilor Joseph Maestas, who voted against appealing the order to the state supreme court, said, "Each individual track [i.e., pursuing both implementation and appeal simultaneously] is in conflict with the other. I'm concerned about injecting confusion into the minds of the voters." Trujillo, who voted in favor of appealing, said that it was necessary to address the constitutionality of RCV: "Once we get a definitive answer on this, then we don't ever have to worry about it again."^[28]

On December 20, 2017, the Santa Fe City Council voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance establishing procedures for ranked-choice voting in the city. Under the ordinance, a majority will be defined as 50 percent plus one of all votes cast for candidates who have not been eliminated in earlier rounds of voting (as opposed to a majority of all votes cast). The council also approved two separate ballot designs, one organized horizontally and one organized vertically; the vertical ballot design was adopted in the event that the horizontal design proves incompatible with existing voting software. A voter education website (accessiblehere) was launched on December 21, 2017.^[29]

On January 9, 2018, a three-judge panel of the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected the city's appeal of Thomson's order, allowing for implementation of ranked-choice voting in March 2018. The panel, which comprised Justices Edward Chávez, Charles Daniels, and Barbara Vigil, ruled unanimously in rejecting the challenge. Perez said, "Now we can really concentrate on implementing this right. We can clear the cloud behind all of it and move forward, 100 percent, full steam ahead with a successful implementation and election." City spokesman Matt Ross said, "This is a disappointment. We hoped the Supreme Court would clarify the constitutional and separation of powers questions before them. While we have an order, we don't have a written explanation resolving any post-election challenge that may arise."^[30][31]

State legislation and ballot measures

Recent legislation related to electoral systems in New Mexico

The table below lists bills related to electoral systems that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in New Mexico. The following information is included for each bill:

• State
• Bill number
• Official bill name or caption
• Most recent action date
• Legislative status
• Sponsor party
• Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page onBallotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

Electoral systems ballot measures

See also:Elections and campaigns on the ballot andList of New Mexico ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked no ballot measures relating to electoral systems in New Mexico.

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See also

Select a state on the map below to read more about electoral systems in that state.

• Voting in New Mexico
• Redistricting in New Mexico
• Election dates

External links

• FairVote
• ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network

Footnotes

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policy Alabama •Alaska •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming Redistricting policy Alabama •Alaska •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming Recount laws Alabama •Alaska •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming Ballot access for political candidates Alabama •Alaska •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio 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•Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming Electoral systems Single-winner system •Multi-winner system •Block voting system •Plurality voting system •Majority voting system •Top-two primary •Blanket primary •Open primary •Closed primary •Semi-closed primary •Top-four primary •Ranked-choice voting (RCV) •STAR voting •Approval voting •Fusion voting