Here's how the top mayoral candidates will rank their ballots

London will be making history next week as the first city in Canada to use ranked ballots in a municipal election, but it looks like three of the four front-runners for mayor aren't buying the hype. 

CBC News asked London's top four mayoral candidates how they'll be ranking their ballots. All but one — Tanya Park — said they won't be ranking their ballots, essentially throwing away their chance to support a candidate with whom they might align. 

"It doesn't surprise me that the candidates themselves would only vote for themselves. I think what's more interesting is the recommendations they make to those who support them," said Zach Taylor, a Western University political science professor. 

"Based on polling that's been done, it looks like the candidates are fairly evenly matched, so the second and third choices could be key. It will be tricky to see how it plays out." 

But Paul Cheng, Paul Paolatto and Ed Holder aren't trying to make a grab for those second and third choices, at least not publicly.

Cheng said he's telling his supporters to only vote for him because most don't understand the new ranked ballot system, including his mother at Chelsea Park retirement home, and most of her friends.

Holder said his integrity is preventing him from choosing anyone but himself, but he doesn't discourage people from ranking their ballots (though he won't say who they should rank after him). 

Paolatto said he doesn't support ranked ballots because of the cost (about $250,000 more than the 2014 election, though city staff won't have final numbers until after voting is done). 

Park, the only candidate who said she would rank her ballot, said she's going to choose two underdog candidates, David Millie and Sean O'Connell, as her second and third choices. 

Second or third choices could be key

Ranked choice voting is seen as more democratic by proponents because, to win, a candidate has to get 50 per cent of votes. In a traditional first-past-the-post system, a candidate wins with only 30 per cent of the vote. 

Advocates also say ranked ballots encourage women and diverse candidates to enter races and that ranked choice elections tend to be less adversarial because candidates don't want to alienate voters who might choose them as their number two or number three spot. 

Taylor said he's seen Paolatto be much more conciliatory in debates than Holder and Cheng. 

"[Paolatto] is talking about working with council. Generally he has a message of consensus building that wasn't coming from the other two. He might be trying to go in that direction, to be more collaborative, hoping that if Park supporters put a number two, they'll put him."

Tanya Park

1. Tanya Park
2. David Millie
3. Sean O'Connell

"They've been exceptionally well-researched and politically, we're in alignment."

Ed Holder

1. Ed Holder
2. x
3. x

"From my standpoint, if I'm going to be true to the efforts my team has put forward, it would be inconsistent to vote for anyone else other than myself. If I'm going to do this with integrity, that's what I have to do."

Paul Paolatto

1. Paul Paolatto
2. x
3. x

"I'm not going to rank other candidates. I would much more prefer that the city be first in job creation or helping our most vulnerable than on spending money on something like this. It's one and done for me."

Paul Cheng

1. Paul Cheng
2. x
3. x

"People are asking, how does this work? I'm say to the folks, put Cheng number one. Vote one mayor, one councillor, like an old fashioned ballot. The minute you put number two, you lose all control."