Longmont Proposal to Allow Ranked Choice Voting Where Possible Starting in November 2029

Question 3C adds a new section 2.10, titled "Voting Method," to the City of Longmont Home Rule Charter. Beginning in November 2029, where possible, Longmont elects its mayor and councilmembers by a ranked voting method as defined in the Colorado Revised Statutes. The amendment takes effect on the day a certified copy reaches the City Clerk and the Colorado Secretary of State, which the ordinance requires within 20 days after approval. Longmont's next regular city election, in November 2027, keeps the present method.

Longmont now uses plurality voting: each voter picks one candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins, even with less than half of all votes cast.

The ballot question names ranked voting methods but sets no counting rule, and section 2.10 points to the methods defined in state statute without choosing one. Voters rank candidates in order of preference. In a single-winner race, the Leader explained, if no candidate has a majority of first choices, the count drops the last-place candidate and moves those ballots to each voter's next-ranked candidate until one candidate reaches the threshold to win.

Ranked Choice Voting for Longmont, the local group backing the change, has promoted a multi-winner form for the three at-large seats, in which more than one candidate wins the same contest, the Longmont Leader reported.

The question qualifies ranked voting with the words "where possible." Section 2.10 makes ranked voting depend on two conditions: equipment certified by the Colorado Secretary of State, and final Secretary of State rules in effect for the method. If either is missing, "any contest may be conducted using the plurality voting method." The section does not name the official who makes that choice.

Longmont lies in both Boulder and Weld counties. The Leader reported that since July 1, 2026, state law has allowed a city in more than one county to refer ranked voting elections to its counties for coordinated administration, provided the counties can use compatible certified voting systems and meet other requirements.

The council referred the question on a 6 to 1 vote on August 11, with Councilmember Diane Crist opposed, the Times-Call reported. Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring said at the meeting that the council has the authority to adopt ranked choice voting without a ballot referral but wants to make sure the public has an appetite for it.

City estimates discussed at the July council meeting put the startup cost at up to about $150,000, with about $7,000 a year after that, the Leader reported, citing Longmont Brief's account of the meeting.

Question 3D on the same ballot puts all three at-large seats on one election cycle beginning in 2029, when ranked choice voting would take effect if voters approve it, the Times-Call reported. Question 3D takes effect only if 3C passes.