H 809 Massachusetts House · 194th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act establishing ranked choice voting for certain offices in the town of Lexington

Lexington will use ranked choice voting for five town offices starting January 1, 2025: moderator, select board, school committee, housing authority, and planning board. Voters will rank candidates in order of preference instead of selecting just one, with ballots transferring to higher-ranked choices if a voter's top choice is eliminated or elected. The system automatically eliminates the lowest-ranked candidates each round until a winner meets the election threshold (a calculated vote minimum), or until seats are filled in multi-seat races. This replaces the current plurality voting system for these offices, except in single-seat races with two or fewer candidates or multi-seat races where candidates match available seats.
Bill status passed 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Governor
Introduced Feb 27, 2025 Last action Mar 19, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate. No roll call record of that vote is available.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Feb 27, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate concurred
upper
Feb 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to the committee on Election Laws
lower
1 primary · 3 co-sponsors

Sponsors