County of Sacramento
The current electoral system has been bad for equitable representation and governance in the City of Sacramento. But in some ways, these problems are even worse in the County of Sacramento.
Few voters in Sac County even know who their County Supervisor is, or what County Supervisors do.
“In focus groups totaling about forty Sacramentans from all walks of life,” according to the Sacramento Bee, “few of them were able to name who represents them on the Board of Supervisors …”
“There is very low awareness of County government.”
How can this be? Given the crucial responsibilities carried out by County government – like law enforcement (Sheriff), criminal justice (District Attorney), and myriad other services (Supervisors) – how can so few people be aware of their elected County officials?
Well, for starters, many voters never see their County official’s name on a ballot.
Sacramento County’s election process routinely excludes hundreds of thousands of voters from County elections
Primary Elections in Sacramento County consistently get low voter turnout, compared to General Elections. For example, in 2024, the Primary Election in Sac County turned out barely half as many voters as the General Election.
TOTAL BALLOTS CAST IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY IN 2024
The “turnout gap” is the difference between number of people who voted in the Primary Election versus the number who voted in the General Election.
In 2024, the “turnout gap” was huge – a third of a million people!
But this is actually typical for Sacramento County, where the “turnout gap” has historically been huge in every election cycle.
TOTAL BALLOTS CAST IN SACRAMENTO COUNTY: 2016-2024
So we know the “turnout gap” in Sacramento County is reliably huge.
That’s a problem, because about 90% of races for County office are decided in the Primary.
Most of the time, a candidate is elected to a County office without ever running in the General Election, where more people vote.
WHERE SACRAMENTO COUNTY OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN ELECTED: 2004-2024
(INCLUDES SUPERVISORS, SHERIFFS, DISTRICTS ATTORNEY, AND ASSESSORS)
People who vote in only the General Election (nearly half of all voters in Sacramento County), almost never see their County representative’s name on a ballot.
Sacramento County’s Sheriff hasn’t been elected in a General Election since 2010.
Sacramento County’s Assessor and District Attorney have never been elected in a General Election in the last two decades.
Why does Sac County run elections this way?
It’s because they think they have to.
In order to produce a majority winner, the County employs a “two-round runoff” (a Primary Election in the Spring, and a General Election in the Fall). The City of Sacramento does the same thing.
But this process routinely fails to actually produce a majority winner because races almost never go to a runoff. Rather, the Primary turnout picks the winner nearly 90% of the time.
The result excludes hundreds of thousands of voters every election.
Ranked Choice Voting would allow the County to solve this problem
If the County used Ranked Choice Voting, the County could produce a majority winner in a single election (no more “two-round runoff”).
With Ranked Choice Voting, the County could simply nix the Primary for County races and allow all candidates to run in the General Election, where more people vote and diverse voices can be heard.
One election – no expensive negative runoffs.
Plus, moving all County races to the General Election would allow candidates to reach out to all voters, not just their “base” that votes in the Primary. Increased voter engagement will improve voter awareness of what County government does.
Ranked Choice Voting is more representative of the voters, saves money for candidates, reduces wasted votes, provides winners with a real mandate, promotes civil campaigning, eliminates vote-splitting and “spoilers”!
Data show it!