Californians for Electoral Reform |
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Voice
for Democracy Newsletter
of Californians for Electoral Reform Fall 2006 |
Ranked Voting on the Ballot in Davis and OaklandThis
fall CfER members are campaigning for not one, but two ballot measures.
A charter amendment to introduce IRV for all city elections is on
the ballot in Oakland.
An advisory measure in Davis would instruct the city council to
consider choice voting for that city’s at-large council. Nationwide, the frequency of adoption
campaigns is increasing.
The Davis and Oakland campaigns join two others outside California
-- Minneapolis, Minnesota and Pierce County, Washington
--
on the November 7 ballot. Oakland
Measure O.
The Oakland City Council voted on July 18 to let the city's voters
decide whether to use instant runoff voting (IRV) for all city elections.
The council vote was 6-2. If
the measure passes, IRV will replace Oakland's existing two-round runoff
system for all city offices.
In 2000, Oakland's voters approved a charter amendment that
permitted the use of IRV in special elections to fill vacancies, but left
adoption for this purpose up to the city council. The
2006 charter amendment would require the use of IRV as soon as Alameda
County election officials have the equipment in place to count ranked
voting elections.
The county has already contracted for new voting machines from
Sequoia Voting Systems, which will be upgraded for IRV by 2007. The Oakland campaign’s impressive list of endorsers
includes Member of Congress Barbara Lee (D-9), state Assembly Members
Wilma Chan (D-16) and Loni Hancock (D-14), as well as current and former
members of the city council, county Board of Supervisors, and school
board. As of press time, no organized opposition had surfaced. To
get involved in Oakland call (510) 355-0340 or visit
http://www.oaklandirv.org/getinvolved.html
Davis
Measure L. On
July 11 the Davis City Council placed a choice voting advisory measure on
the November 7 ballot. The text of the measure
is, "Should the City of Davis consider adopting choice voting, also
known as instant runoff or
preference voting, as the system to elect City Council members?" In
the spring of 2005 a nine-member Governance Task Force appointed by the
city council recommended -- with no dissents and one abstention -- that
Davis use choice voting to elect its city council, and become a charter
city if necessary to do so. The ballot measure this November is the direct
result of that recommendation, and of continued activism by supporters of
Davis Citizens for Representation (see the Summer
2005 issue of Voice for Democracy). The city council vote was 3-2. Both council members who opposed the advisory vote are receptive to ranked voting. One disagreed with the timing and the other wanted explicit consideration of single-member districts. The Davis council is elected at large. As in Oakland, so far there is no organized opposition. To
get involved in Davis call (530) 754-0274 or visit
http://davischoicevoting.org/index.php?page=getinvolved
Outside
California.
In Minneapolis, the Better Ballot Campaign got a charter amendment
on the ballot by a 12-1 vote of the City Council. The measure would
implement ranked voting for all city offices except school board. Several
boards and commissions are currently elected at large, and choice voting
would be used for these offices. For
more on Minneapolis see http://www.betterballotcampaign.org
In Pierce County, Washington (which includes Tacoma), Charter Amendment 3 would adopt IRV for all county offices except judges and the prosecuting attorney. The campaign is emphasizing the fact that IRV would replace partisan primaries, which are unpopular with many voters in Washington state, especially after the federal courts invalidated the state’s traditional “blanket primary” and then invalidated the two-round runoff format meant to replace it. For more on Pierce County see http://www.yesonthree.com Bob Richard, VP of Communications |
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