The Santa Fe City Council is not obligated or prepared to implement ranked-choice voting for the 2018 municipal elections, the city attorney wrote Friday in response to a lawsuit filed in the state Supreme Court.
With its reply, the city’s legal department disputed people who sued on the claim that ranked-choice software is functional, available and must be used in the upcoming election to ensure candidates who are elected in March reflect the will of a majority of voters.
The city attorney’s legal brief counters that the needed software for ranked-choice voting missed deadlines for an upgrade this year and would upset an election campaign that’s already underway, with candidates expecting the existing system to prevail. The city argues conditions in the city charter regarding the ranked-choice implementation have not been met.