[Sosfbay-discuss] FW: Ranked Voting! AB 1294 ranked voting - Urge your representatives

[JamBoi]

Please circulate this call to action as widely as you
can outside of the 6th Assembly District.  And thank
our own representative in the Assembly, Jared Huffman,
for co-authoring AB 1294.  The Assembly floor vote
will be next week, so please act today.  Thank  you.
 
Bob Richard
Marin Ranked Voting
http://www.marinrankedvoting.org
P.O. Box 235
Kentfield, CA 94914-0235
(415) 256-9393
 

http://webmail1.webmail.aol.com/25698/aol/en-us/Mail/get-attachment.aspx?uid=1.18728854&folder=New+Mail&partId=5

Please contact your representatives in the CA Assembly
ASAP and urge their support for AB 1294 (local option
for ranked voting).

AB 1294 is key electoral reform legislation in that it
allows local governments to use ranked voting systems
like Instant Runoff Voting and Choice Voting.   It
doesn't mandate that jurisdictions use these systems,
but simply gives them the option to do so if their
voters approve of such a change.

Ranked voting is more fair, preferred by voters, saves
local governments money, and can lead to dramatic
improvements in effective voter participation. 
Charter jurisdictions already have the ability to use
these systems, but AB 1294 allows all cities and
counties this option.  Detailed information about the
bill, its benefits, and its supporters is below.

AB 1294 is off to a good start, having passed through
both the Assembly Elections Committee and Assembly
Appropriations Committee.  In addition, a number of
other legislators have signed on as co-authors of the
bill, including Assembly Members Hancock, Huffman,
Laird, Karnette, Ma, and Davis, in addition to the
principle authors Mullin and Leno.

Please call, fax, or email your representative in the
Assembly and ask that they vote for the bill when it
is brought up on the Assembly floor next week.   If
your local Assembly member is already an author or
co-author of the bill, please thank them for their
leadership.

A roster of Assembly members and their phone, fax, and
email contact information is available at:
     
http://www.cfer.org/legislation/CA_Assembly_Member_Roster_2007.htm

If you don't know who is your representative in the
Assembly or Senate, you can learn this information
using your address or a map at:
      http://192.234.213.69/amapsearch/framepage.asp

BACKGROUND

AB 1294, introduced by Assembly Members Mullin (D-19)
and Leno (D-13), would allow all cities and counties
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.

AB 1294 was passed through the Committee on Elections
and Redistricting on April 17th and just recently
passed through the Committee on Appropriations on May
9th.  The next stop for our bill is the floor of the
Assembly.

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 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.

TALKING POINTS FOR AB 1294:

1) IRV has an extremely successful track record in its
usage in San Francisco

All of the available research and surveys of the usage
of IRV in San Francisco support the fact that every
single demographic in the city -- defined by where
they live and their race, age, gender, party and
political philosophy -- preferred IRV to the old
runoff system.  In fact, voters prefer IRV by a
three-to-one margin over the old system.  Over 87% of
voters said that they understood IRV perfectly well or
fairly well, and voters two-to-one perceived the
instant runoff voting system as more fair than the
prior two-round runoff system.  So from the standpoint
of voter acceptance, ranked voting has proven
exceptional in the last three elections in San
Francisco.  And in addition to this local usage, over
25 million people worldwide use IRV and have done so
for many decades, showing that this is not something
on the bleeding edge, but rather a proven system
gaining acceptance in California and other states.

2) IRV can lead to dramatic improvements in voter
participation

One of the arguments that members are finding
particularly compelling about the bill is the
potential for dramatic improvement in voter turnout as
a result of using ranked voting, especially among
minority communities. San Francisco saw an effective
tripling of voter participation overall as a result of
using ranked voting (and being able to combine two
elections into a single election), and as much as a
quadrupling of turnout among minority and low-income
neighborhoods.  Such improvements seem likely in other
jurisdictions as well, and also for local elections
which coincide with the statewide primary and general
elections. For an analysis of how IRV led to
significant improvements in voter turnout in San
Francisco, see:
http://www.sfrcv.org/reports/turnout.pdf

3) IRV can save local governments considerable money

There is a significant potential for cost savings by
eliminating the need for expensive runoff elections,
often elections with single-digit voter turnout.  San
Francisco alone saves b/w $2 million and $3 million
per election, which is real money when we are talking
about local government budgets.   In Los Angeles
County, they had an election last week that cost $5
million dollars and only had 6% voter turnout.

4) 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.

5) 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.

6) 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.

7) AB 1294 is broadly supported

See the partial list below of organizations and
individuals supporting AB 1294. 


SUPPORTERS OF AB 1294 INCLUDE:

          o Californians for Electoral Reform
(sponsor)
          o Secretary of State Debra Bowen
          o Asian Americans for Civil Rights and
Equality
          o Asian Pacific American Legal Center
          o California Common Cause
          o California League of Women Voters
          o California Peace and Freedom Party
          o California Public Interest Research Group
          o City Clerks Association of California
          o City of Davis, CA
          o City of Fort Bragg
          o Community Development Institute of East
Palo Alto
          o Davis Choice Voting
          o Democracy for America
          o FairVote – the Center for Voting and
Democracy
          o Greenlining Institute
          o Kevin McKeown, Councilmember, City of
Santa Monica
          o Latinos for America
          o League of California Cities
          o Los Angeles Voters for Instant Runoff
Elections
          o Mexican American Legal Defense and
Education Fund (MALDEF)
          o New America Foundation
          o San Mateo County Democracy for America
          o Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer &
Assessor-Clerk-Recorder, San Mateo County
          o Yolo County Registrar of Voters Freddie
Oakley

Thanks for all your help!

    Rob Dickinson
    Executive Vice President
    Californians for Electoral Reform
    Email: rdickinson at cfer.org
    Web: www.cfer.org
    Phone: 650-365-6025
    Mobile: 650-544-5925 

___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

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