The
first General Assembly took place Friday afternoon in the vast Exhibition
Hall. Thousands and thousands were officially welcomed to this second
Feminist Exposition sponsored and produced by the Feminist Majority
Foundation. There were some 575 other national and international
sponsoring organizations.
The Expo was conceived of
as a national and worldwide coming together for women’s empowerment. Feminist
Milestones of the 20th Century were reviewed and saluted. At the top of
the list of Milestones figured: “Winning the vote for Women” and “Winning equal
rights under the law”.
Then Pioneer Awards were
presented to the visionaries of the feminist 20th century that had
worked for these Milestones, including our own Wilma Rule.
Wilma was honored with the Pioneer Award for her path-opening research,
documentation and education demonstrating the importance of using PR in winning
political equality for women. She received her award noting that the
modern feminist movement will make big advances into the 21st Century using PR!
Eleanor
Smeal and Katherine Spillar, President and National Coordinator of the Feminist
Majority Foundation respectively, are strong proponents of PR in long and short
range plans for getting women elected to office. Citing “political empowerment”
as a cutting-edge issue of our time, the Feminist Majority devoted a good
number of the 106 symposia, panels, roundtables and training sessions to
election systems analysis. Experts and audiences were brought together to
exchange perspectives and experiences across sectors, issues and disciplines.
Saturday
afternoon’s Symposia “Changing the Rules: Leveling the Political Playing Field
for Women” featured election rules in the USA and internationally to examine
how elections systems impact women’s representation in elected office. The
seven panelists discussed actual existing and proposed rule changes for
leveling political playing fields.
Katherine
Spillar chaired the session in which speakers generated new ideas and solutions
with PR as the main focus. Wilma Rule, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, University of
Nevada, Reno, quoted from her new book on the reasons why using PR gets women
elected. Rob Richie noted possible future problems using PR and offered
examples of problems where some form is now being used. Jill Bystydzienski,
Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Iowa State University, offered examples of how
PR worked to get women in office in her country of origin, Norway. She also
reviewed the use of PR in some other parts of Europe. Erwin Chermerinsky,
Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics, and political
science, University of Southern California Law School described favorably a
number of PR model projects and PR policies.
Joyce
Piliso-Seroke, Chair, Gender Equality Commission of South Africa explained how
the use of PR in South Africa transformed social relations as she was able to
observe serving as a committee member of the Human Rights Violation Committee
of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Rajana Kumari, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Center for Social Research and Coordinator, Joint Action Front for
Indian Women spoke of the strengths and weaknesses of women’s electoral
campaigns in India. With the enthusiastic participation of many women
eager to learn more about PR, the session ended an exciting moment for the big
advances for PR!
Back
at the CVD table, Eric Olsen and I were able to talk with feminist of all ages
and geographical locations who wanted more information. We handed out lots of
our literature, Doug Amy’s pocket handbook, and videos about PR to be shown in
classes and organizations. Many people are now on our email lists and can hook
up to get a speaker to come to their meetings.
In all, we were “wowed” by the exposure, interest and attention to PR! Look for Wilma Rule’s new book “The U.S. House of Representatives. Reform or Rebuild?” edited by Joseph Zimmerman and Wilma Rule to appear soon. There is confidence that big advances are marking the stride of CVD and NCCPR (now Californians for Proportional Representation) into the 21st Century!
The first letter to the Editor
(This is the first
printable ‘letter to the editor’ I have received in over two years, so please
indulge me by printing it in full –ED)
Wilma Rule’s views
Thank
you for the informative newsletter and thanks to Steve, Marda, Jim and Paula
and to all the others who are working so hard for PR.
Re
the name. I like PR in the name of our organization for that is our primary
purpose, while the two other suggestions could be for term limits, campaign
finance reform etc.
Re:
AB 172 being gutted: did it include the possibility of list PR which is the
leading system throughout the world, including S. Africa?
If
one doesn’t like parties making the decision, an open list system allows voters
to choose candidates on the party list or across party lists. This works at the
local level where non-partisan and/or (continued on page three ...)
(from page two ...)
independent lists can apply.
Re
League of Women Voters and IRV: Why not make the study first of election
systems then promote a choice among a few system? There are questions regarding
IRV.
1. It is a majority system
which leaves out the political minority especially women and ethnic minorities,
and third and other small parties.
2. Sometimes the person who
gets the most 1’s loses.
3. It promotes insincere
voting, e.g. vote for people you don’t want as 1, then you previously arrange
to get the persons who will probably be omitted in the first round to rank you
as their second choice, and then you have a good chane to win a majority.
Thanks
to Paula re informing us re the League. Yes I will be glad to help in their
study and in speaking to League chapters.
The
National Organization of Women is supporting Proportional Representation
because it offers more opportunity for women’s election. (Thanks to Steve for
informing us regarding their resolution for PR).
Here
are some criteria for a fair election system originally drawn up by Professor
Joseph P Zimmerman of SUNY at Albany, which might be considered at the AGM:
(1)The electoral system
results in representation which reflects the racial, ethnic, gender, economic
and other groups in a city, state and nation.
·
majority and minority
interests in approximate proportions the their population are included.
(2)Voters can elect
candidates and/or groups they want to represent them and they do not have their
votes wasted.
·
A vote is wasted if it
never or rarely elects a person or party that voters want. That is one reason
for low voter turnout, apathy and alienation. An election system which provides
that minorities are represented will allow no or few wasted votes.
(3)A fair election system
results in a high proportion of eligible citizens, registered and voting.
·
Full citizen
participation is a goal for democratic government
(4)A fair election system
results in an equitable distribution of government costs and benefits.
(5)A fair election system
results in domestic tranquility – peace among diverse groups in the city
Sincerely,
Wilma Rule
From Berkeley to Amarillo ... and beyond!
The
Berkeley League of Women Voters (LWV) are likely to recommend IRV according to
Jim Lindsay (a full report will appear in the next issue).
In
news around the country, cumulative voting was used for the first time in
Amarillo Independent School District recently. Both a black candidate and a
Latina candidate won. She almost certainly needed cumulative voting to win,
although the breakdown of how people voted is not yet available. Turnout also
showed a big upswing. It was 13%, up from under 4% in the last school board
election.
On
May 2nd a GOP panel recommended PR for electing delegates to the
Republican National Convention. While this hasn’t been adopted at least PR is a
debatable item on the agenda.
The
Green Party of Washington State held its founding convention and elected the
five “at-large” members of its coordinating council using PR.
On
May 4th, London held its first Mayoral election with the result
determined by second preference voting. Even more significant, the new London
assembly was elected with the two-vote Mixed Member Proportional system used in
Germany and New Zealand and more recently in Scotland and Wales. On May 18th, a private members
bill was introduced and debated on the floor of the Canadian House of Commons.
If passed, it would set up an all-party committee to recommend the best
alternatives to winner-take-all for a nationwide referendum. The vote will be
taken in the fall. In New Zealand, the debate is whether STV (Choice Voting)
will be allowed for local elections in 2001 or 2004. Finally in a hectic month
for PR enthusiasts, efforts to completely remove the remnants of PR in Italy
failed.
Local Chapter Contacts
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)-841-6761/email at david@diana.lbl.gov
Vice-President of Local Chapters is Nat Lerner (831) 442-1238 /email at natscottl@yahoo.com
Contact Numbers in Your Area
You can reach us by calling the local number
in your area: 415-558-8133 831-442-1238 510-527-8025 650-962-8412 707-523-0440 916-967-0300 408-432-9148
*****************************************************
Voice for Democracy is published by Californians for Proportional
Representation. Our web site at http://fairvotencal.org has more up to date
information. Please submit articles or letters for publication to: c/o Nat
Lerner, Voice for Democracy, 68 Penzance Street, Salinas, CA. 93906 or e-mail
to natscottl@yahoo.com
***************************************************************
2nd Annual Leadership Retreat
The retreat will be on June
24th from 9:00am to 5pm. in the Holsinger Room at the YMCA Point
Bonita Conference Center at the Marin Headlands, Fort Barry #981.The agenda
includes “Training on effective lobbying” by Rachel Richmond and “Brainstorming
and team-building for PR” by our activists. The cost of the retreat is $15 in
advance or $20 on the door. The cost includes beverages, continental breakfast
and lunch. Send your check made out to NCCPR to Dave Kadlecek, Treasurer,267
Lester #301 Oakland, CA 94606.
From the North
Highway 101 South PASS the
Marin City-Sausalito exit and go through the Waldo (“Rainbow”) Tunnel. Take the Sausalito exit, last exit before
the Golden Gate Bridge At stop-sign
turn right under the freeway to second stop-sign 50 yards after the second stop-sign, take the first left to the 6
minute tunnel into the Marin Headlands
From the South
Highway 101 north across
the Golden Gate Bridge Take Alexander
Ave exit, first exit after Vista Point
Veer right onto Alexander Avenue
Take first left to the 6 minute tunnel into the Marin Headlands
From the 6 minute tunnel
(everyone)
The tunnel road becomes
Bunker Road. Proceed through the housing area for approx. 2 miles, following
signs for the Mrin headlands Visitor Center. 50 yards past the stables, bear to
theleft onto Field Road Road (there will be a sign for Point Bonita at this
intersection) Continue up the hill,
passing the Visitor Center and a Nike Missile Base, to the YMCA Point Bonita.
Guest Parking is on your left as you enter. The Holsinger Room is on the right
behind the large Dining Hall.