Fwd: Educational Opportunity: Experience Ranked Choice Voting Through a Mock California Governor Ballot
Undergrad Advising Global Studies
From: <alisa...@umail.ucsb.edu>
Date: Wed, May 27, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Subject: Educational Opportunity: Experience Ranked Choice Voting Through a Mock California Governor Ballot
To: Undergrad Advising Global Studies <global-...@ucsb.edu>
Dear Global Studies Department,
My name is Alisa, and I am writing on behalf of Gauchos for Election Reform (GAFER), a student organization at UC Santa Barbara dedicated to promoting civic engagement and educating students about electoral systems and democratic participation. We are working in collaboration with the Californians for Electoral Reform (CfER), a nonpartisan organization that advocates for implementing ranked-choice voting and other election methods across the state to promote transparency and political accountability.
We are reaching out to ask whether you would be willing to share the educational opportunity below with students in your department. While election reform is often associated with political science, the way elections function affects students and communities across all fields of study. Understanding how voting systems shape representation, voter choice, and election outcomes is relevant to anyone interested in public policy, civic life, and democratic institutions.
This year’s California gubernatorial primary presents an interesting example. More than 60 candidates have filed to run for governor, yet only the top two candidates in the June primary will advance to the November general election. When many candidates appeal to similar groups of voters, support can be divided among several candidates, potentially preventing candidates with broad overall support from advancing. As a result, many voters feel pressure to vote strategically for the candidate they believe is most likely to win rather than the candidate they most prefer.
To help students explore this issue, we are sharing a mock Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) ballot based on the 2026 California Governor race. Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference rather than selecting only one candidate. If a voter’s first-choice candidate is eliminated, their vote transfers to their next-ranked candidate. This process continues until a candidate receives majority support.
The mock ballot gives students an opportunity to experience how Ranked Choice Voting works in practice and to compare it with California’s current Top-Two Primary system. The activity is intended solely for educational purposes and does not endorse any candidate or political party.
Mock Ballot:
https://www.demochoice.org/dcgovballot.php?poll=ca26gov
We would greatly appreciate it if you could share this opportunity with students in your department. Our goal is to encourage informed civic engagement and help students better understand the election systems that shape democratic participation.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the activity or our organization.
