Precinct 3 City Councilor Thomas Peake (left), Easthampton Mayor Salem Derby (middle) and state Rep. Homar Gomez (right) testified in favor of a bill that would allow ranked-choice voting in multi-win election races. The Legislature has 60 days to vote on the matter before it goes in front of the city for another vote.
Photo credit: Commonwealth of Massachusetts livestream
EASTHAMPTON — A little over one week after ranked-choice voting decided Easthampton’s mayor, city leaders at all levels of government are pining for the mechanism to expand to multi-winner election races.
On Nov. 13, Mayor Salem Derby joined state Rep. Homar Gomez and Precinct 3 City Councilor Thomas Peake during the state’s Joint Committee on Election Laws to testify in favor of a bill that would allow ranked-choice voting during the city’s at large City Council and School Committee races.
“I think that this tool is something we shouldn’t overlook,” Derby said in front of the committee on Beacon Hill. “It would allow us to create a more diverse potential of people that are willing to run. And it would give us a better representation of what the people want.”
Derby was elected as Easthampton’s new mayor on Nov. 4 under the ranked-choice voting system, which the city implemented in 2019 for single winner elections after going through the state process. He defeated Jason “JT” Tirrell and Lindsi Sekula in a multi-round process that saw him secure 40% of the vote in round one and 56% of the vote in round two. Tirrell was eliminated after round one because he received the least number of votes out of the three.
The general election yielded 5,804 ballots, according to unofficial results, making this year’s voter turnout the highest it’s been in Easthampton’s history as a city, according to the three local leaders. Easthampton officially became a city in 1996.
During his testimony, Derby argued that the turnout alone reflects an energized community hungry to share their perspective on what candidate they want.
“I think that speaks to the citizens’ perspective of having their voice heard,” Derby said. “Having three viable candidates vying for this spot, I think energized our electorate.”
Peake, the author of the legislative petition that eventually turned into this ranked-choice voting bill, shared that there were some initial concerns about whether the tabulation software owned by Easthampton could handle ranked-choice voting for multi-winner elections.
Peake, however, said the software can in fact successfully tabulate winners in those types of elections without any additional expense to the city.
He echoed Derby’s sentiments during his testimony, emphasizing the civility and general tact that permeated Easthampton during this election cycle thanks to ranked-choice voting.
“What we ended up experiencing was a positive issue-based election in which the candidate with the broadest support ultimately won,” Peake said. “We were able to accomplish this in a single election while avoiding the cost of a preliminary.”
Prior to submitting the legislative petition to the state, the city put the matter of ranked-choice voting in multi-winner elections on the ballot in 2023 as a non-binding policy question. According to Peake, voters were on board with expanding the system.
“This past election, we have a record of people voting,” Gomez said. “And I think one of the reasons that people feel comfortable to get out and vote is because we used ranked-choice voting.”
The state Legislature will now have 60 days to consider Easthampton’s petition. If they vote in favor of it, the measure would go in front of Easthampton voters one more time before it can take effect.
