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Indybay Feature

Monthly Marin Rank Voting Meeting

Date:
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Time:
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Event Type:
Meeting
Organizer/Author:
Bob Richards
Email:
Location Details:
Kentfield Campus's Student Services(Student Center) Building on the College of Marin - Dinning Area - Bottom Floor

Take Action AB 1294 needs your support! Visit CfER's action page and act today. Endorse ranked voting here Upcoming events * Assembly Elections Committee hearing on AB 1294(event)(2 days) * Monthly meeting, April 18, 2007(event)(3 days) * Voices Of Reform forum on IRV(event)(4 days) Sign Up for News Please read our privacy policy. For more options, go here. Email: Monthly meeting, April 18, 2007 Start: 04/18/2007 - 7:00pm End: 04/18/2007 - 9:00pm Timezone: Etc/GMT+7 Body: Marin Ranked Voting's monthly meeting on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:00pm. Everyone interested in better ways of choosing public officials is encouraged to drop by. Winners on November 7 Oakland, California Davis, California Minneapolis, Minnesota Pierce County, Washington Other Local Campaigns Santa Monica Ranked Voting Los Angeles VoteFIRE San Mateo County for Electoral Reform Humboldt Voters' Association Statewide and National Organizations FairVote - The Center for Voting and Democracy Californians for Electoral Reform California IRV Coalition Resources DemoChoice Polls Doug Amy's PR Library Your help is needed NOW to move important electoral reform legislation forward in the California Assembly. AB 1294, introduced by Assembly Members Mullin (D-19) and Leno (D-13), would allow all local jurisdictions (cities, counties, and districts) to use ranked voting systems to elect their representatives. The bill would allow these jurisdictions to use Instant Runoff Voting for single-winner elections or Choice Voting (a ranked voting system similar to IRV) for multiple-winner elections. It would also add to the state Elections Code the guidelines and procedures registrars and equipment vendors need to count and report ranked voting elections. This bill is important in that most local jurisdictions are not able to use ranked voting systems under current law, and this bill would permit them to do so. Today only charter counties or charter cities can use IRV, but over three-fourths of cities and counties -- and nearly all districts -- are general law jurisdictions and don't have these options. Over half of Californians live in a general law city, a general law county, or both. AB 1294 would give these jurisdictions these additional options, but would not mandate that any jurisdictions use these systems. In other words, it is simply permissive and gives local governments the tools they need to respond to the wishes of their voters. Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) ensures that the winner of a single-winner election has the support of the majority of voters in a single election. By eliminating the need for a costly runoff election it saves local governments a lot of money -- about $2M per election in San Francisco alone. IRV also eliminates vote-splitting and spoiler effects, both of which undermine the public's confidence the political process. Finally, IRV helps promote positive, issue-based campaigns with less negative campaigning because candidates will seek 2nd and 3rd choice votes." San Francisco has used Instant Runoff Voting extremely successfully for three consecutive elections, and all academic and survey research shows that the results have been excellent. San Francisco voters understood IRV extremely well, used it effectively, and overwhelmingly prefer it to the old two-round runoff system that they had used for decades. In fact, of voters expressing a preference, approximately 3 to 1 prefer the IRV system over their old system. Given the momentum for ranked voting building around the country -- shown last November in Oakland, Davis, Minneapolis (MN) and Pierce County (WA) -- this bill comes at an excellent time. Please Contact Members of the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting ASAP AB 1294 will be considered in the Assembly Committee on Elections and Redistricting this Tuesday (April 17th) and it is important that members of the committee hear from you right away. Please call, fax, or email the members of the committee to express your support and urge them to support the bill in committee. If you only have time to contact one member, please contact the Chair of the committee, Assemblyman Curren Price. Curren D. Price Jr, Chair Phone: (916) 319-2051 Fax: (916) 319-2151 Email: Assemblymember.Price@assembly.ca.gov Anthony Adams, Vice Chair Phone: (916) 319-2059 Fax: (916) 319-2159 Email: Assemblymember.Adams@assembly.ca.gov Mark Leno (one of the authors of the bill, so you don't need to contact him now) Lloyd E. Levine Phone: (916) 319-2040 Fax: (916) 319-2140 Email: Assemblymember.levine@assembly.ca.gov Tony Mendoza Phone: (916) 319-2056 Fax: (916) 319-2156 Email: Assemblymember.Mendoza@assembly.ca.gov Roger Niello Phone: 916-319-2005 Fax: 916-319-2105 Email: Assemblymember.niello@assembly.ca.gov Lori Saldaña Phone: (916) 319-2076 Fax: (916) 319-2176 Email: Assemblymember.Saldana@assembly.ca.gov KEY POLICY BENEFITS OF AB 1294: 1) This bill ONLY gives local governments an option to use ranked voting. but does not mandate that any jurisdiction use ranked voting systems. 2) Cities and counties deserve the opportunity to use the electoral systems that best address their unique needs . Currently, only charter cities have this opportunity, and it should be extended to all local governments. Giving general law jurisdictions the right to improve their election procedures would open up valuable new opportunities for them to achieve more representative democracy and better government. Allowing local jurisdictions to demonstrate improvements to their electoral processes allows the whole state to benefit and see what works best. 3) Our current voting systems suffer from a variety of deficits, including vote splitting and spoiler effects, and unequal representation. Spoiler and vote splitting effects can allow a candidate to be elected where the majority of people would prefer a different candidate. Our winner-take-all electoral systems ensure that a significant percentage of the population is denied representation , and this ultimately undermines the political system. In particular, minority communities suffer the most, and the Choice Voting system allowed by this legislation provides for much greater opportunities for representation than are afforded under our current at-large winner-take-all systems. 4) Ranked voting systems like Instant Runoff Voting lead to greater voter participation (sometimes quite dramatically), as well as encourage issue-oriented campaigns with less negative campaigning . 5) The lack of uniform election code support for these improved electoral systems is a significant obstacle to cities and counties and other jurisdictions that want to use these systems , and AB 1294 addresses this need. In addition, City and County officials and/or local Registrars are not put in the difficult positions of having to make up such procedures themselves. 6) IRV saves taxpayer money by eliminating the need for a separate runoff election. San Francisco alone saves at least $2 Million per election by eliminating a separate runoff election. And they have much higher effective voter participation in a single election, with an estimated tripling of voter participation among low-income and minority neighborhoods. Greater participation for less money. ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING AB 1294 INCLUDE: o Secretary of State Bowen o Californians for Electoral Reform o California Common Cause o FairVote â€" the Center for Voting and Democracy o New America Foundation o California League of Women Voters o League of California Cities o Democracy for America o Latinos for America o The City of Davis, CA o Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality o Asian Pacific American Legal Center o Davis Choice Voting o San Mateo County Democracy for America o Community Development Institute of East Palo Alto o Greenlining Institute o San Mateo County Chief Elections Official Warren Slocum o Yolo County Registrar of Voters Freddie Oakley o Santa Monica Council Member Kevin McKeown Thanks for all your help! Rob Dickinson Executive Vice President Californians for Electoral Reform Email: rdickinson@cfer.org Web: www.cfer.org Phone: 650-365-6025 Mobile: 650-544-5925 Add put up by http://groups.yahoo.com/group/davidquinleymaringpcouncil
Added to the calendar on Mon, Apr 16, 2007 9:10AM
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