On November 3rd 2025, Special Town Meeting
On November 3rd 2025, Special Town Meeting
Overwhelmingly voted YES on Ranked Choice Voting
Overwhelmingly voted YES on Ranked Choice Voting
for Bedford
for Bedford
Embedded Files
A special opportunity for our town
This year, Bedford voters will be considering steps to upgrade our elections to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) through Warrant Article 5.
When:
Monday, November 3, 2025 - 6:30 PM
Registration opens 5:30 PM.
If necessary, session will continue an additional night.
Where:
Bedford High School Auditorium
9 Mudge Way, Bedford, MA 01730
What does it mean to vote YES on this warrant article?
If Bedford Special Town Meeting votes YES:
The Selectboard will send a “Home Rule Petition” (HRP) described by the warrant article to our state legislature, which will ask permission for the town to hold a binding referendum to decide on implementing ranked choice voting.
If the state legislature approves the HRP:
The referendum will be held, and if Bedford's voters then pass it, ranked choice voting will be implemented for our local elections only -- state and federal elections will not be changed.
What is ranked choice voting?
What is ranked choice voting?
Answer: A simple improvement to the way we vote.
With ranked choice voting...
You can rank multiple candidates in the order you like them. Your favorite is your first choice, next favorite your second choice, and so on.
If your favorite candidate does not have enough support to win, no worries! Your vote still counts for your second favorite candidate... and so on if your second favorite can't win, etc.
You can rank as many or as few candidates as you like.
Ranking additional candidates never hurts your more favorite (higher ranked) candidates.
You can always vote for your favorite and never worry about "wasting your vote". Even if your favorite loses, your vote still counts.
Because voters can rank their support for more than one candidate, it also means more candidates can choose to run without "siphoning votes away", also known as "splitting the vote", with other similar candidates. More voices can run, voters get more choices, and no more "spoilers".
And it's as easy as 1-2-3!
Sample ranked choice ballot
Why ranked choice for Bedord?
Why ranked choice for Bedord?
Why is this warrant article important for Bedford?
Bedford residents value democracy, civic participation, and constructive dialog. Ranked choice voting supports these values.
From the American Revolution, to the movement to Abolish Slavery, to the present day, Bedford embodies liberty, freedom, and prosperity for all through strong community. Upgrading our elections to RCV is a natural continuation of this priceless tradition.
This video sums it up:
Immediate benefits of ranked choice voting for Bedford
Majority Rule: Ensures that to win every candidate needs to earn the support of a true majority of the voters, no matter how many are running. Electeds with broad support are more likely to act in the public's interest.
No more "Bullet Voting": You know what's sad? Pressure to only vote for one candidate when you could pick more and giving up the full value of your ballot because you are afraid more votes for others will hurt your favorite. With ranked choice, you can fully support your favorite and still keep your say on all the positions being elected. No more giving up your power.
Invites more voices: Encourages more candidates to run without worrying about splitting votes with a similar candidate and “spoiling” the outcome.
Encourages positive campaigning: Gives incentives to all candidates to keep the conversation constructive and appeal to all voters – because they may need opponents supporters 2nd or 3rd choice votes to win. This has been supported by repeated research studies.
Increases voter participation: Ranked choice voting has been found to increase voter turnout by an average of 17% in American odd year municipal elections.
Short explainer videos
Short explainer videos
How will ranked choice voting work in Bedford?
How will ranked choice voting work in Bedford?
Current state of Bedford elections
What boards we elect
In our town, we elect residents to the following bodies:
Selectboard (5 elected members), Board of Assessors (4), Board of Health (6), Library Trustees (7), Housing Authority (5), Planning Board (5), and School Committee (5).
Board member terms
All of these bodies have "staggered terms", which means that their members are not all up for election at the same time, providing continuity of experience across elections.
What contests we vote on
Bedford typically holds elections in odd years, every two years. For each board we elect, it is most common to be electing two members at a time, with any number running.
How we use our ballots
Voters are currently allowed pick as many candidates as there are members being elected. So if there are two Selectboard seats being filled, and five candidates running, you may vote for two, one, or none of the candidates. If one seat is being filled, you may only vote for one candidate.
How votes are counted
The candidate "picks" a voter has made on the ballot are totaled up for each candidate as votes and the candidate with the most votes wins. If you voted for two candidates, there is no way to tell which one you liked better and so it's possible that your second vote may contribute to your favorite candidate being beaten.
Bedford elections with ranked choice
What boards we elect
No change.
Board member terms
No change.
What contests we vote on
No change.
How we use our ballots
Instead of "picking" a number candidates up to the number that are being elected, voters may rank multiple candidates. It's typical for ballots to support ranking up to three to five candidates.
How votes are counted
Ranked ballots are counted using "instant runoff voting" - see the explainer videos below. With this method, counting begins looking only at voters' first choices on their ballots. If a candidate has a majority of these, they win.
If no candidate has a majority, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated. Their supporters' ballots are then counted for each voter's next choice and the total retabulated: Does any candidate have a majority now?
The process repeats until one does. If multiple seats are being filled, then after the first winner, the ballots are simply counted again, ignoring the winning candidate(s) on the ballot, in order to find the next winner.
Where is ranked choice popular?
Where is ranked choice popular?
What other Massachusetts towns want to use RCV?
Ranked Choice Voting has surged in popularity in Massachusetts in the last 10 years. In 2019, Easthampton joined Cambridge as the second city in the Commonwealth to upgrade to ranked choice voting.
Eight other cities and towns have passed charter changes or home rule petitions similar to the Bedford proposal that are before the legislature. They are Acton, Amherst, Arlington, Boston, Brookline, Concord, Lexington, and Northampton. Somerville is voting on a charter change this November that calls for the formation of an official Ranked Choice Voting implementation committee.
In addition, there are currently active citizen efforts underway in cities and towns like Brockton, Burlington, Medford, Melrose, Needham, Nahant, Newton, Northborough, Salem, and Westborough.
Where else is ranked choice voting used?
Ranked choice voting is used in some form for public elections in 23 US states. RCV is used in local elections for 42 cities and counties. Two states, Alaska and Maine, use it for most of their state and federal elections, including Presidential elections.
Ireland and Australia have each used RCV for over 100 years. For more information on where RCV is used, check out this resource. Ranked choice voting is a proven, tried-and-true way of running elections.
How can I learn more?
How can I learn more?
Where can I find more information?
Official Warrant Article
More on our website
About us page
Who can I talk to about this article?
Please email info@bedfordrcv.org and someone from Bedford RCV will get back to you promptly to discuss or answer any questions about the article.
See you at Special Town Meeting
See you at Special Town Meeting
Monday, November 3rd 2025
Monday, November 3rd 2025
Thank you for coming together to make the spirit and
Thank you for coming together to make the spirit and
practice of democracy in Bedford stronger than ever!
practice of democracy in Bedford stronger than ever!
Vote YES on Ranked Choice Voting
Vote YES on Ranked Choice Voting
for Bedford
for Bedford
Page updated
Report abuse