Bill
H 4034
Authorizes ranked-choice voting for Brookline town-wide offices, establishing thresholds, transfers, batch elimination, and ballot rules for single- and multi-seat contests.
Status and sponsors
- Bill number: H 4034 (House Docket No. 4570)
- Introduced by: Representative Tommy Vitolo (filed 4/14/2025). Petition also lists Senators Cynthia Stone Creem and Margaret R. Scarsdale. The petition notes “Local Approval Received.”
- Classification: local act to authorize ranked choice voting for the Town of Brookline.
- Legislative actions (as recorded): Referred to the committee on Election Laws 4/17/2025; Senate concurred 4/22/2025; hearing scheduled 11/13/2025. (The file also contains an unrelated South Carolina House resolution congratulating Minnie Inez Ruff Cloud — that text appears to be a separate document accidentally appended.)
Purpose
- To authorize and establish procedures for conducting ranked choice voting (RCV) for town‑wide offices in the Town of Brookline at annual and applicable special elections.
Key provisions and definitions
- Establishes a statutory RCV system and defines technical terms used in the counting process, including: ranked choice voting, ranking, continuing candidate, highest‑ranked continuing candidate, concluded ballot, overvote, skipped ranking, transfer value, surplus fraction, election threshold, last‑place candidate, and batch elimination.
- Applicability:
- RCV applies to all town‑wide offices in Brookline at the annual election and at special elections called under M.G.L. c.41, §10.
- Single‑seat contests use RCV only when more than 2 candidates are printed on the ballot.
- Multi‑seat contests use RCV only when the number of candidates printed exceeds the number of seats to be filled.
- Single‑seat tabulation:
- Each round each ballot counts as 1 vote for the voter’s highest‑ranked continuing candidate.
- If 2 or fewer continuing candidates remain, the highest vote getter wins.
- Otherwise the last‑place candidate (or candidates via batch elimination) is defeated and rounds continue.
- Multi‑seat tabulation:
- First round: calculate an election threshold = (total votes for continuing candidates in the first round ÷ (seats + 1)), discard fractions, then add 1.
- Candidates meeting or exceeding the threshold are elected. If elected candidates create surplus votes, each ballot for an elected candidate has its transfer value reduced by multiplying its current transfer value by the candidate’s surplus fraction = (votes − threshold)/votes.
- Elected candidates are treated as having the threshold number of votes in subsequent rounds.
- If no candidate meets the threshold, the last‑place candidate(s) is defeated (or defeated via batch elimination) and rounds continue.
- Batch elimination:
- Allows simultaneous elimination of the largest possible group of candidates whose combined votes are less than the individual votes of every continuing candidate not in the group — subject to ensuring a sufficient number of continuing candidates remain to fill seats.
- Ballot handling rules:
- “Concluded ballots” (no further ranked continuing candidate, an overvote at highest‑ranked continuing candidate, or two+ sequential skipped rankings before the highest‑ranked continuing candidate) do not count for continuing candidates.
- Skipped rankings advance to the highest-ranked continuing candidate; repeated rankings skip to the highest continuing ranking.
- Overvotes involving two or more continuing candidates invalidate the overvote rankings and any subsequent rankings on that ballot.
- Tie‑breaking and recounts:
- Prior to first use, the Town Clerk (with Board of Registrars approval) must establish a tiebreaking method for tied last‑place candidates; tiebreak results must be recorded and reused for recounts and cannot be amended during an election (including recounts).
Who is affected
- Voters and candidates in Brookline for town‑wide offices: changes ballot marking (ranked preferences) and the vote‑counting process.
- Town election officials: Town Clerk and Board of Registrars must adopt procedures (including tie‑break rules), and election administrators will need training, possible software/hardware updates, and updated ballot designs and communications to voters.
Practical and procedural implications
- Introduces a transferable‑vote counting method with explicit rules for threshold calculation, surplus transfers, batch elimination, and ballot exhaustion handling.
- Likely requires administrative preparation (voter education, ballot layout changes, tabulation systems capable of RCV counting, and clear recount procedures).
- The bill includes safeguards for recount consistency (recorded tiebreaking and handling of concluded ballots).
Notes
- The docket/file contains an unrelated resolution honoring Minnie Inez Ruff Cloud (100th birthday) from the South Carolina House; that content is not part of the Brookline RCV measure.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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