Voice for Democracy
Newsletter of Californians for Proportional Representation
January-February 2001
Pressure mounts for Electoral Reforms!
by Paula
Lee
STATE:
The California Legislature has introduced 3 bills to modernize voting
equipment. They are: AB 28, AB 55 and AB 56. These bills are all
requesting funding for modernization and AB 56, proposed by the Assembly
Speaker Hertzberg, will likely be the one to come out of committee.
CPR is supporting all three bills and will
testify at the committee hearings requesting that equipment be compatible for
use with ranked ballots. Most modern equipment such as touch screen and
optical scanned ballots are compatible with IRV and PR. AB 56 GRANTS FOR
UPDATED VOTING SYSTEMS:
Department of Information Technology to award grants to counties for the
purchase of updated voting systems at a ratio of $1 of county funds for
every $3 of state funds:- appropriate $300,000,000 from the General Fund.
CPR will take a neutral position on AB 45
introduced by Republican Tony Strickland and testify at committee hearings to
provide education about proportional alternatives to allocation of electors by
Congressional district. AB 45
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS: Political parties nominate an elector in each
congressional district and 2 electors on a statewide basis. The elector nominee in each congressional
district whose presidential candidate has the highest number of votes in the
congressional district and 2 presidential electors on the basis of the
presidential candidate having the highest number of votes statewide. For the latest info on
California bills, go to www.assembly.ca.gov and www.senate.ca.gov
ACTION: Please call your California representative and
encourage them to support AB 56.
FEDERAL: HR 57 - Federal Elections Review Commission
Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Jim Leach
(R-IA). This bill establishes a 12 member nonpartisan commission to study
and make recommendations with respect to the Federal electoral process. The Act
asks the Commission to examine and report to the President, Congress and the
Federal Elections Commission on many issues including the electoral college,
voter registration, ballot access, Internet voting, polling place closing
times, training of poll workers, impact of ballot design, options for redress
when there are irregularities, early voting, criteria for participation in
presidential debates, the feasibility of limiting the campaign season, the
presidential primary process AND..... the impact of winner-take-all voting and
the feasibility and advisability of election reforms such as instant runoff
voting, proportional representation, candidates appearing on multiple ballot
lines, cumulative voting with a particular focus on the impact on voter turnout
and expanding political dialog.
ACTION: This bill has 45 co-sponsors currently. In
California. Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Bob Filner, Tom Lantos, Barbara Lee, Nancy
Pelosi and Lucille Roybal-Allard are co-sponsors. Call and thank
them! If your representative is NOT
listed call and ask them to co-sponsor this important bipartisan bill...HR 57
Seeing this legislative action in the area
of electoral reform is encouraging. It is critical that we in the
electoral reform community let our representatives know how important this is
to us! Make a few phone calls today, to contact your member of Congress
call 202-224-3421. There is tremendous momentum in the House on this bill
and your phone call will help. Call now!
Stanford Electoral Reform Conference
March 3, 2001
Americans are discovering that the
quality of our democracy is determined by the quality of our voting system.
How can we improve our voting
methods so that they more faithfully result in government of, by, and for the
people?
Join a discussion of these topics and
learn what you can do about it on Saturday, March 3 from 10-3 at the Stanford
Electoral Reform Conference.
Featured speakers include John
Anderson, independent presidential candidate in the 1980
election and president of the Center for Voting and Democracy (CVD), Pam
Karlan, Stanford law professor, Mischelle Townsend of Riverside County and
other election officials, Caleb Kleppner, Dan Johnson-Weinberger and others
from CVD.
Topics to be discussed include: the importance of voting
systems to our democracy; what's likely to happen on a national level,
including national equipment standards; opportunities and challenges regarding
voting equipment upgrades in California, and a report on Riverside's successful
introduction of a touchscreen system this year; electoral reform issues
including Instant Runoff Voting, Proportional Representation, Direct
Representation, and redistricting; and opportunities for reform in California.
We will have interactive
demonstrations of high-tech voting equipment and the Instant Runoff and PR
methods.
Directions can be found on the
website: http://www.calirv.org Ample
free parking is available outside Tresidder. Assistance with lodging and
transportation arrangements is available. Sponsored by CVD, the California
Instant Runoff Voting Coalition, and CPR., there is no charge for this
event. However, an r.s.v.p. would be very much appreciated to assist in
planning. Call Nancy Couperus (650) 941-4808 or e-mail
couperus@mindspring.com
for more information and/or to let us know that you plan to attend.
Outreach in Sacramento Feb. 24th/25th
I am looking for volunteers to help
table for PR and IRV at the Republican Convention at the Hyatt Hotel Feb 24th
and 25th in downtown
Sacramento.
This is a great opportunity for
outreach and I hope to hear from you...especially if you are a Republican or
Libertarian. Actually, I could use your help as advocates of PR and
IRV. Please e-mail your availability so I can make up a
schedule. Waiting to hear from you... Thank you so much! Paula Lee (530)-644-8760 email at paulalee@jps.net
Mark Your Diary !
Los Angeles Meetings
February 11, 2-5 p.m. February 28, 6-9
p.m.
Meetings will take place at 446 S. Van Ness Ave., Los Angeles (2 blocks north
of Wilshire Blvd., 5 blocks west of Western Ave.) CONTACT: 213-385-2786 prorep@hotmail.com CPR, 2163 Vestal Ave. Los Angeles CA
90026-1955
South Bay
The next meeting of the So Bay Chapter will be Sunday, March 11 at 4pm. Call Jim Stauffer at (408) 432-9148 jstauffer@igc.org
LOCAL CHAPTERS ROUNDUP
In less than a year after CPR voted
to change our name, we have made significant progress toward becoming a
full-fledged statewide organization.
Edward Teyssier has agreed to serve
as CPR's San Diego County Contact and has assembled local activists from at
least four different political
parties. Another chapter is likely to form in Ventura County.
East Bay
On December 19th, the Berkeley City
Council passed a four-part resolution supporting IRV and East Bay members were
instrumental in lobbying the city council. The resolution calls for an
IRV study and instructs the City to write letters and lobby both state
legislators and members of Congress, encouraging them to use IRV. East
Bay members are also pursuing ways to implement IRV in Oakland after the
passage of Measure I.
Los Angeles
On January 20th, the Los Angeles
County Chapter of CPR distributed more than
1500 pieces of literature to those attending Inauguration Day protests in
Pershing Square.
New chapters
and initiative campaigns for the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa
Monica are being planned.
South Bay
The statutory language is there, now
CPR members in Santa Clara are working on having ranked ballots actually
implemented for local elections. The South Bay Chapter has also formed a
subcommittee to lobby state and federal
lawmakers to support proposals that will help advance electoral reform.
Local Chapters and Contacts
San Diego County Contact is Edward Teyssier, 858-546-1774/email at edward@k-online.com
Southern
California Contact is Casey Peters (213)-385-2786/email at proprep@hotmail.com
Monterey County
Contact is Nat Lerner (831)-442-1238/email at natscottl@yahoo.com
South Bay Chapter
Contact is Jim Stauffer (408)-432-9148 /email at jstauffer@igc.org
San Francisco
Chapter Contact is Betty Traynor (415)-558-8133/email at
btraynor@energy-net.org
East Bay Chapter
Contact is David Greene (510)-658-3085/email at david@diana.lbl.gov
Sacramento County Contact is Pete Martineau (916)-967-0300/email at petemrtno@aol.com
El Dorado County
contact is Paula Lee (530)-644-8760/email at paulalee@jps.net
North Bay Contact
is Wayne Shepard (707)-5520-5317/email at paldebits@juno.com
Vice-President of Local Chapters is Rob Latham 510-632-1366 x116 /email at freeca@msn.com
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Voice for
Democracy is published by Californians for Proportional Representation (prior
to May 2000 Northern California Citizens for Proportional Representation). Our
web site at http://www.fairvoteca.org may have more current information. Please
submit articles or letters for publication to: c/o Nat Lerner, Voice for
Democracy, 68 Penzance Street, Salinas, CA. 93906-1339 or e-mail to
natscottl@yahoo.com
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Join us today!
To join CPR and participate in the electoral reform movement, just complete the form below and send it with $25.00 check made out to CPR to:-
Membership, CPR P.O. Box 128 Sacramento, California 95812
Name: ________________________________
Address:__________________________
________________________________
Phone:___________________________
Email:____________________________
Want To
Learn More About the Different Election Systems?
The League of Women Voters Election
Systems study is progressing. The Local Leagues throughout the State have
received the Election Systems Study Kit and Leaders Guide and the study
committees are working to learn about different election systems so that they
can act as a resource at consensus meetings that each group will hold between now
and April 2001.The consensus forms will be due in the State office by May
1st.The State study committee will then compile the forms and determine if
there is any statewide consensus for a position on election systems. If you are
interested in learning more about the majority/plurality, semi proportional and
proportional election systems, I would recommend you get involved in your local
League of Women Voters group and participate in this study. The League of Women
Voters is a non-partisan organization for men and women. The mission of the LWV
is to encourage the active and informed participation of citizens in government
and influence public policy through education and advocacy. Call your
Local League today, as many have begun this study, and get involved. To
find a local LWV in your area, call Paula Lee at 530 644-8760/ e-mail
paulalee@jps.net.
STOP PRESS: On
February 7th. Congressman Alcee Hastings (D-FL) introduced HR 506,
the "Congress 2004 Commission Act.". The bill will establish a
commission to study a number of things, but the number one and two issues it
will consider are: 1. analyze the current size of the membership of the House
of Representatives... 2. examine alternatives to the current method by which
Representatives are elected (including cumulative voting and proportional
representation) to determine if such alternatives would make the House of
Representatives a more representative body. - Eric Olson, CVD, 2/10/2001.
The text of the legislation is available at the Library of Congress' Thomas
website. You can read it at: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html
Voice for Democracy
CPR
P.O. Box 128
Sacramento, California 95812