We propose that Boulder residents vote to elect our Mayor. The Mayor would be elected to a 4 year term. This election would occur in non-presidential even years (eg; 2022, 2026, etc…). To avoid the pitfalls of our current voting method, we would use Ranked Choice Voting (Instant Runoff Voting) to ensure a majority of voters pick the winner, disincentivizes negative campaigning and provides more choice to voters. One of the main advantages is that more voters would participate in the mayor election than our Council elections and we would therefore get insight as to the issues the majority of voters care about. In on-year (even year) non-presidential election, roughly 50,000-54,000 people vote (as compared to 34,000 in 2019). The role of the Mayor will be slightly modified, and this process will provide much clearer insight as to what the legislative goals of our community should be. Council will carry the duty of appointing the Mayor Pro Tem for a two year term. 

Ballot Language Summary

Shall the voters of the City of Boulder adopt changes to the charter that will require the election of our Mayor by use of Ranked Choice Voting. Ranked Choice Voting is a ,a a method of casting and tabulating votes which gives voters more choice and more voice by allowing them to rank candidates in their order of preference. The Mayoral election will be held on even “non-presidential” years.