Next week, City Council will likely decide whether to test a simple change in voting that would ensure a majority of voters elects every member of the governing body in the 2024 elections.

The nine-member council will be meeting as a committee Tuesday, Sept. 6, to consider the change known as ranked choice voting, which has begun gaining popularity and being used in New York and other major cities.

A poll of the members would determine whether the proposal would advance to a formal vote at a regular council session.

The process would be used when three or more candidates run for a council seat.

At the ballot box, voters would rank the contenders in order of preference on their ballot. If there is no outright winner when the votes are first counted, the candidate with the lowest total would be dropped and the second choice preferences of that person’s voters would be distributed to the remaining candidates. The process would continue until one candidate secures more than 50 percent of the total vote and be declared the winner.

Second District Councilwoman Katherine Jordon introduced the proposal in April and has the support of two other members, Andreas D. Addison, 1st District, and Stephanie A. Lynch, 5th District. Others have yet to say how they stand.

The Richmond Crusade for Voters and the League of Women Voters are backing the change as well because of the benefits, including increased voter participation and the assurance that the victor has majority backing.

The council postponed action in May and, at Ms. Jordan’s request, put off consideration until this upcoming meeting of the Organizational Development Committee to allow her colleagues more time to present it to their constituents and receive feedback.

Advocates see the process as creating more support for the winner, given that every voter would have at least listed their preference for the candidate, even if he or she was not their first choice.

In the current system, a winner can emerge with far less than a majority. Those who supported a losing candidate often have only disapproval to offer.

Virginia Republicans used the system to choose their statewide ticket in the 2021 election, one of the first uses in Virginia, and the party united behind their candidates.

In 2020, the General Assembly passed and then Gov. Ralph S. Northam signed into law a bill to allow ranked-choice voting to be used, but only in elections for city council and county boards of supervisors.

In Richmond, ranked-choice voting could not be used in the 2024 election for the next mayor and for the nine members of the School Board.