In November 2022, Oakland resident Ima Ekong went to her local polling place to cast her vote in the city’s mayoral election. Two years later, she says she’s still unclear how ranked-choice voting, the ballot system used in city elections, selects winners and losers. “I think it is really confusing,” she said. Ekong is not alone. The 2022 election put a spotlight on ranked-choice voting with the surprise victory of Sheng Thao over Loren Taylor in the Oakland mayoral race and the reversal of a school board result due to an error in the tally. Taylor, who held a substantial lead in the first round of ballot counting but ultimately lost by a margin of 0.6%, argued that the ranked-choice system is a form of voter suppression. In February, a group of his supporters announced a push for a ballot measure that would give voters the chance to strike down ranked-choice voting, though their effort failed to qualify for the November election. Taylor, …