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California’s secretary of state has officially certified Alameda County’s upgraded voting machines, paving the way for instant runoff voting in some cities’ elections, likely including next year’s Oakland’s mayoral race.

The certification from Secretary of State Debra Bowen could allow the cities of Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro to bypass a possible June primary for city elections and instead just hold one vote for those races in November.

Instant runoff voting — also called ranked choice voting, as county officials refer to it — is where voters rank their choice of candidates in the fall’s general election.

Oakland voters approved instant runoff voting under Measure O in 2006; it calls for such ranked choice voting to start in 2010. Voters in Berkeley also have approved ranked choice voting, and the San Leandro City Council is expected to vote on using the system in that city’s elections.

In October, Oakland mayoral candidate and former state Senate leader Don Perata sent a letter to Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi listing a variety of questions and concerns about the possibility of using ranked choice voting in next year’s city elections.

In his letter, Perata questioned if there is enough time to educate voters on the system, if the system is safe and secure and noted other downsides of using such an “experimental voting system.”

But some believe Perata may want a primary election since he

likely would to be able to easily raise funding for two elections and has tremendous name recognition, while his opponent, Councilwoman Jean Quan, might have a more difficult time.

Dave Macdonald, Alameda County’s registrar of voters, said the cities eligible for ranked choice voting have to let his office know by early next year if they wish to hold a primary in June. The Oakland City Council is expected to take a vote next month to certify a ranked choice general election for next fall — something that should be a formality since it has been mandated by voters.

Macdonald added that the county will conduct educational outreach programs to let voters in those cities know of the change. He said that campaign has not been formalized but discussions on when it will happen and what form it will take should begin shortly.