By the time Annapolis elects its next crop of city leaders, following the terms of this year’s election winners, residents could have the option to choose more than one candidate in each race.

Legislation before the City Council would see Annapolis implement what’s known as ranked-choice voting by 2029, meaning voters would be allowed to rank candidates — up to as many as are running in any particular race — in order of their preference.

“It makes our elections kinder and fairer,” said Alderman Harry Huntley, who introduced the ranked-choice voting bill in July. “It gives voters more voice and more choice. And it gives independents, which is our fastest-growing group of voters — it brings them into our political process.”

Huntley, a Democrat who is running to retain his seat on the City Council representing downtown, said that ranked-choice voting encourages more candidates to run, particularly women and people of color. Huntley believes that’s key in Annapolis, where it has become rare for more than two candidates to run for any given office.

Fellow Democrat Robert Savidge, who is running for reelection representing Ward 7 on the City Council, agrees. He signed on to Huntley’s bill as a co-sponsor, saying he believes ranked-choice voting increases confidence in election outcomes.

“It ensures that whoever wins, wins with a majority of the vote as opposed to just a plurality of the vote,” Savidge told The Banner. “I think it helps build more unity behind a candidate, as far as bringing people together, because it reflects that majority position.”

Ranked-choice voting, also known as “instant runoff voting,” requires someone to win with at least 50% or more of the vote. If no candidate achieves that, the person in last place is eliminated, and those who voted for them have their next choices counted. That continues until a candidate reaches the majority threshold.

Michelle Whittaker, executive director of the advocacy group Ranked Choice Voting Maryland, said the process empowers voters.

“People respect the outcome, and they are happy with the outcome because they know ‘Yeah, I had a voice in electing this person. They may not have been my top choice, but that person was one of their choices on their ballot,’” Whittaker said. “They still felt like they had a voice in electing that person.”

Whittaker added that the voting method focuses campaigns on issues critical to voters, rather than political infighting, because candidates are vying for second- and third-choice votes.

“When you have that, you see less negative campaigning, you see more collaboration,” Whittaker said. “There’s more discussion on the issues and less tearing people down.”

Not all are in favor of the change.

George Gallagher, an Annapolis Republican and City Council candidate, submitted written testimony to the City Council in July, writing that ranked-choice voting “is a direct assault on one person, one vote.”

“Ranked-Choice Voting is flat-out undemocratic,” Gallagher said. “It will create the tyranny of the mediocre. Anyone with innovative ideas will be denied public office in favor of the banal establishment choice. This approach is a democracy killer.”

Whittaker rejected arguments such as Gallagher’s as meritless.

Under two-party, winner-take-all elections, “there’s not an option for a party that’s in the minority, or a community that’s in the minority, to have any voice or say,” she said. Ranked-choice voting is “opening up the ability for more voters to have a voice to elect someone who is aligned with what the community is looking for.”

She said ranked-choice voting has led to more independent candidates running in the more than 50 jurisdictions where it has been implemented nationwide, including major cities such as Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco, as well as in two states: Maine and Alaska.

In Maryland, Takoma Park has used ranked-choice voting since 2007. According to Whittaker, other municipalities in the state — including Hyattsville, Greenbelt, Rockville and Frederick — are considering the practice.

Independents recently outnumbered Republicans in Annapolis, according to Huntley, who said that development underscores the importance of his legislation.

“When you go into a voting booth, you’ll be able to say not just who your first choice is, but your second, third, fourth and maybe fifth choices,” Huntley said. “You’re conveying more of your preference to your government.”

Three Annapolis residents testified in support of Huntley’s legislation at the meeting when it was introduced. Others can weigh in during the bill’s public hearing Sept. 8.

Philip Ateto told the council he supported ranked-choice voting as “one of the ways we can start restoring our democracy and trust in our government.”

He cited the so-called “spoiler effect,” which postulates that candidates outside of the two major parties are discouraged from running because they worry about taking votes away from a major-party candidate. He denounced the status quo as increasingly polarized and divisive.

“Do you view true freedom and choice as having only two options?” Ateto asked.