I understand that on November 29th, First Judicial District Court Judge David Thomson indicated his intention to issue a Writ of Mandamus ordering the City of Santa Fe to use Ranked Choice Voting for the March 6, 2018 city elections. I’m pleased by Judge Thomson’s decision as Santa Fe voters have waited over 9 years since they voted to amend the City’s Charter to utilize Ranked Choice Voting.
Given Judge Thomson’s decision, I am respectfully requesting that the Mayor and Council hold a special Mayor and Council meeting as soon as possible to:
• Direct the City Clerk, City Manager, and City Attorney to take all actions necessary to implement Ranked Choice Voting for the 2018 election.
• Direct the City Attorney to not appeal the Judge Thomson’s well-reasoned decision to the NM Supreme Court.
As I’m sure you are aware, time is now of the essence in moving as quickly as possible to ensure that Ranked Choice Voting is effectively implemented in time for the March 2018 election. It would not be prudent to wait until the regularly scheduled December 13th Council meeting to get moving on this. Hence the request for a special meeting as soon as practical – hopefully as soon as December 4th or 5th.
With respect to not appealing the case to the Supreme Court, the City has already spent a lot of time and resources resisting implementing Ranked Choice Voting, contrary to the will of the people. While I understand the concerns some Councilors have had, I think it is now time for the City to respect Judge Thomson’s decision – a decision made after a thorough evidentiary hearing of the facts and the law.
Why is this important?
We need ranked choice voting to be implemented effectively in time for the March election. The voters of Santa Fe chose to improve and increase the representative nature of our democratic process through ranked choice voting. Now a judge has ruled after an evidentiary hearing, that the City is obliged to implement it. It's time to move forward and ensure its effectiveness. No more delays.
