Charlottesville uses ranked-choice voting to select name for holiday tree

This year is the 27th annual Grand Illumination and the holiday event takes place at the Ting Pavilion on Friday. And now there’s a name for the tree that’s been placed in front of Charlottesville City Hall.

“More than 750 people participated in naming the tree this year via ranked choice voting and Spruce Lee won with 59 percent of the final round votes,” reads a message posted to Charlottesville’s Facebook stream.

There were three rounds of voting among four choices. Spruce Lee received 37 percent of the vote with Boots with Fir getting 23 percent. Oatmeal III received 22 percent and Treelor Swift came last with 18 percent.

When it came time to count the second round, Treelor Swift was eliminated and votes were transferred to the remaining three choices. Spruce Lee’s majority increased to 47 percent and the share for Boots with Fir went up to 28 percent. Oatmeal III was three with 24 percent and was eliminated. One percent of the ballots were discarded because the voter did not rank any other candidates.

In the third round of voting, Spruce Lee’s cleared the threshold for majority with 59 percent of the vote to 38 percent for Boots with the Fir. Three percent of the ballots were inactive due to not enough choices ranked.

“When Charlottesville uses ranked choice for the first time next June, voters will be nominating two candidates for City Council,” the Facebook post continues. “In a two-winner race, the ballot would look the same, and Spruce Lee and Boots with the Fir would both be elected.”

For more details on the scoring, take a look at the results on Ranked Choice Virginia, a non-profit headed by former Delegate Sally Hudson.

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