CA Senate Elections Committee Passes Bill to Let General Law Cities Use Ranked-Choice Voting

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

On April 19, the California Senate Elections Committee passed SB 1288, which lets all California cities use Instant Runoff Voting for their own City elections if they wish.

SB 1288 now goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill is sponsored by Senator Mark Leno.

Currently, only Charter Cities have that freedom.

On the Central Coast there are four Charter Cities. In the north are Monterey and to the south Ventura, then the Cities of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara in between. All other Incorporated Communities are General Law Cities

There are 481 General Law Cities and 86 Charter Cities in the State.

The bill received “Aye” votes from three Democrats on the Committee, Ben Allen, Loni Hancock, and Robert Hertzberg.

The lone Republican member, Joel Anderson, voted “No”, and the remaining Democrat, Carol Liu, did not vote even though she was present.

In California, Legislators who abstain have the same effect as if they had voted “No”.

CLICK HERE to read the bill.











NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker

The Growth of Ranked Choice Voting and Instant Runoff Voting

Ranked Choice Voting and Instant Runoff Voting Bills advancing in Minnesota, Washington, DC and New York City.

This post from Rob Richie, FairVote update.

Ranked choice voting (RCV) has a simple goal: accommodate voter choice.  More choice means more power, and RCV provides a bottom-up solution to problems with our electoral system.  It is another way to vote, besides Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).

CLICK HERE to read FairVote's Monopoly Politics 2014 and the Fair Representation Solution.

Collecting highlights from RCV News in 2014, from its ever-growing use for campus elections to new expressions of support from top political leaders.  Just this week former U.S. Senator David Durenberger (R-MN) had a strong commentary about how RCV has reduced the impact of campaign spending, while Rob was among several presenters of papers on RCV at an important electoral reform conference last week at Stanford.

Ranked choice voting bills have been introduced in numerous state legislatures in 2013-2014, with particularly promising progress reported on by FairVote Minnesota.

FairVote Washington says Washington, DC, may become the next major city to adopt the instant runoff voting (IRV) form of RCV to elect its local officials.  Councilmember David Grosso introduced his IRV legislation to reform all primary and general elections.  With early support from co-sponsors David Catania, Mary Cheh, and Tommy Wells and a large mayoral field drawing attention to the problem of "split votes" and "spoilers," the bill needs just three votes for a council majority.

New York City has a vibrant movement for adoption of IRV in citywide primaries, led by the city council speaker and civic groups like the Citizens Union.  There is legislation to enact IRV in future city elections moving in both the city council and the state legislature.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Minneapolis Rank Choice Voting and Mayor's Race

This year, New York City with no incumbent, will have 15 candidates on the ballot for mayor.  Since New York is a fusion state, these 15 candidates will appear on 20 party lines.  But Minneapolis could take the award for one of the biggest ballot.

The 2013 Minneapolis mayoral election will be the second mayoral election in the city's history to use instant runoff voting, popularly known as ranked choice voting.

After incumbent Mayor R. T. Rybak announced in late 2012 that he would not seek a fourth term, 35 candidates began campaigns to replace him as the fee to be on the ballot is $20.  There will also be a write-in line.

Municipal elections in Minnesota are nonpartisan.  Although candidates may identify with a political party on the ballot, it is not an indicator that they are supported by that party.

Another interesting fact is this year the election will use the same type of voting system as New York. Election Systems and Software's D200 optical scanners.

They will also use Election Systems and Software's Ballot Marking Device (BMD).

You can mark your ballot with these methods:

1. Listen to the ballot through audio headphones

2. Touch screen

3. Key Pad (Braille)

4. Sip and Puff Device

5. Rocker Paddle

You then insert a blank ballot and the system prints your ballot selections.  Then you insert it into the scanner to be counted.

The election will be decided when a candidate has 50% plus 1 and the remaining votes to be counted will not change the winning candidate. The voter will only be able to pick three candidates.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC Council's Instant Runoff Voting Bill

Erin Durkin at the New York Daily News writes "New York City Council bill would replace runoff elections with ballots that rank candidates. The bill would replace the lengthy process of holding a runoff election would be traded for forms that voters would fill out ranking candidates, potentially saving the city $20 million and possibly being implemented as early as 2017."

A new New York City Council effort would eliminate costly and cumbersome runoff elections in favor of instant runoff voting (IRV) in which voters would rank candidates to choose their favored contender in a primary election.

Supporters say the new system could avoid the difficulties expected this year as the New York City Board of Elections warns that it won’t have time to reset new electronic voting machines in the two or three weeks between the September primary and the runoff expected if no candidate receives at least 40% of the vote. It could also save taxpayers about $20 million.

“This whole debate would all be unnecessary if we simply had instant runoff voting. We would save money, we would save time, we would save headaches,” said Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), who is sponsoring the bill along with Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan).

Instant runoff voting has been used in cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Minneapolis.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC BOE and Primary Run-Offs

While the city primary elections are four months away, the New York City Board of Elections has already sounded the alarm that it will not be able to implement a run-off election with the procedures required for the new voting machines that were put into place in 2010. State law requires that a run-off election occur between the top two finishers two weeks after the primary for citywide offices (mayor, public advocate and comptroller) if no candidate receives 40 percent of the vote.

The new procedures following the passage of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in 2002, require more time for the printing of paper ballots, the testing of scanners to read the ballots, and transportation of the machines to and from the poll sites. Even with the old lever machines, the top two candidates for a run-off were sometimes not known until days before the run-off. The already tight schedule has been exacerbated by the new voting machines.

Some good government groups are recommending the state legislature pass Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) to replace the separate run-off election. With IRV, voters rank candidates from first to last based on preference. The process starts by the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Ballots assigned to eliminated candidate are recounted and assigned to one of the remaining candidates based on the next preference on each ballot. This process continues until one candidate wins by obtaining more than half the votes.

Another option besides IRV includes extending by a week to three-weeks the timing of the run-off election. Other less favorable options include using the old lever machines, pre-printing all possible ballots in advance, using ballots with “candidate A” and “candidate B” as placeholders for actual candidates made known through a separate card given to voters at the poll.

State Senator Marty Golden has sponsored a bill, and the Senate passed it, that would require the New York City Board of Elections to bring back the old-fashioned lever machines.

State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said there were no plans to take up the Senate bill and passed an Assembly bill allowing for three weeks between the primary and a runoff, which they feel should be sufficient to reprogram the new machines.

But using lever machines brings many legal problems like: No required paper trail, not ADA compliant, not HAVA or state approved, and not able to display all the new approved languages. There is also the need to get the run-off ballots to overseas and military voters. And finally, many of the lever machines in storage need mechanical repair that will require the expense of cannibalizing machines for parts and finding technicians who know how to fix them and a printer who knows how to print lever ballots.

Now we have to see what the Governor will do.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NYC BOE and Instant Runoff Voting

The New York City Board of Elections is exploring “instant runoff voting” in 2013 citywide races, allowing voters to select their first and second choices for citywide offices at the ballot box in September or maybe June.

The board’s commissioners discussed the instant runoff option at a Jan. 3 meeting in Manhattan. For months, the board has been seeking to move this year’s primary to June from September to allow for more time for a runoff, which is triggered when no candidate gets at least 40% of the vote, and to consolidate federal, state and local elections. The state Legislature has so far not acted on the board’s request.

Instant runoff voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, is one of the option among eight that was selected by the board. The board voted to also explore a top-two method selecting the voters pick of two candidates with the most votes without ranking them.

Some board members still prefers moving the date to June, rather than using instant runoff voting, a favorite among good government groups. Voters would need to be educated, which could prove costly for the cash-strapped board. But conducting a run-off election would arguably be more expensive.

There has not been a runoff election since the adoption of the new optical voting machines in 2010, so the board hasn’t had a chance to fully vet the process.

Any changes will have to get pre-clearance from the Justice Department, rewrite of election laws, and will take time for coding, testing, and outside certification.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Instant Runoff Voting

Thanks to Ballot Access News for the idea for this post.

On June 4, 2010 the New York State Senate approved The Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) pilot program bill S3584B and a companion bill will be presented and is expected to be approved by the Assembly. The bill is not a mandate to enact IRV, but would allow all levels of government in the state to run pilot IRV elections. Election reform advocates point to this change as a major opportunity for small party candidates to exercise more influence at the polls.

On January 5, 2011 five New York Assembly members introduced A582. It provides for Instant Runoff Voting in New York city partisan primaries, and repeals the existing provision that requires run-off primaries several weeks after the first primary, if no one gets a majority. Also, seven New York State Senators have introduced S421, which would let any county or city use Instant Runoff Voting for its own local elections. The bill pertains to both general elections and partisan primaries.

I would like to see combining IRV with Open Primaries/Top Two.

What do you think of this idea?









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote!

Michael H. Drucker
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Is New York Ready for Instant Runoffs?

After this year's election, the main story seemed to be the outcome of the mayor's race and the future of the city for the next four years. Under the radar, however, another storyline developed following the city's primary runoff on Tuesday, Sept. 15 -- called to choose the Democratic nominees for two citywide offices. The abysmally low turnout and high cost of the runoff election -- to the tune of $15 million -- left some wondering, is it really worth it?

Some state legislators are now focused on ways to improve runoff elections, including instant runoff voting, also known as IRV and ranked choice voting.

Use the above link to read the article by DeNora Getachew, the director of public policy and legislative counsel and Andrea Senteno, the program associate for Citizens Union Foundation, which publishes Gotham Gazette.

Michael H. Drucker
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Instant Runoff Voting Is Sweeping the Country!

I have started to see more about IVR in print. I just received this in a email from The Free and Equal Elections Foundation:

One of the nation's foremost leaders of the movement for IRV and other democratic reforms is FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy. Its executive director, Rob Richie, had this to say recently about IRV's growing popularity:

“The frustrations of a two-choice, two-party system are particularly clear this year nationally, and even more so in California -- home of one of our most dysfunctional state governments. Two-thousand ten presents a crossroads for the state's reform trajectory. Voters may adopt an even more restricted general election system with the top two primary, or may have the chance to support establishing a state constitutional revision process that could dramatically expand choice through proportional representation and Instant Runoff Voting. Several more major cities could use Instant Runoff Voting for the first time, most notably Oakland, or parochial interests may try to block reform. It's a great year to get involved and stand up for democracy."

Use this link Instant Runoff Voting for more information about this new type of voting.

Michael H. Drucker
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NY Voting Problems

December 05, 2007 Goshen, NY – Votes cast in yesterday’s $70 million school construction proposition cannot be recovered, leaving the outcome of the election permanently out of reach. School board members are due to meet with Superintendent Roy Reese to determine their next move. After consulting with the manufacturer of the voting machines, officials learned there was no way to recover the results. The machines only display results up to three digits, but the turnout was far greater than that. Once the counter turned past 999, there was no accurate way to account for the vote, officials said. On each machine there were more than 1,000 votes cast but it was unclear for which side. There were 2,656 votes cast, not including 86 absentee ballots. One machine reads 314 yes and 24 no and the other machine reads 309 yes and 10 no.

What happened to over site and testing? New York still has not certified any vendor's systems for the 2008 vote and is looking at major loss of their HAVA monies due to Justice Departments suing for non-compliance to HAVA laws.

What kind of problems did your state have this year?

Update:
The County Board of Elections understands the counter problem, and always makes sure that there are enough machines so that no one machine gets that many voters. However, in this case, the County had loaned the machines to the city, and the officials conducting the city election did not understand the problem. The city only used 2 machines, even though there were 10,000 voters eligible to vote.

Michael H. Drucker
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Election Day 2007

Instant runoff voting earned landslide support on ballots across the country. A whopping 77% of voters in Aspen (CO) voted to move to instant runoff voting. Sarasota (FL) voters topped that margin, voting 78% for IRV and prompting the Sarasota Herald Tribune to call the city “a model of election reform.”

In a particularly important election for next year, 65% of voters in Pierce County (WA) voted on a charter amendment to keep IRV on track for the hotly contested 2008 county executive race.

In rural western Washington, voters in Clallam County narrowly rejected establishing IRV as an option in their charter. Several cities also held ranked voting elections.

San Francisco held its fourth IRV election overall, and its first for mayor, with first-round winners in three citywide races.

Takoma Park (MD) smoothly held its first IRV election for mayor, with nary a single spoiled ballot out of more than 1,000 cast.

The city of Hendersonville (NC), following in the footsteps of Cary (NC) in using IRV this fall, had a strong first IRV election for two city council seats. As one voter put it, “There’s nothing to it.”

As a bonus, a graduate student in Cambridge (MA) won a city council seat in an upset victory under the choice voting system of proportional voting, now in its seventh decade of use.

All this good news comes at a particularly fortuitous time as FairVote hosts Claim Democracy 2007 this weekend at the University of the District of Columbia, a major pro-democracy conference drawing hundreds of reformers from across America, and celebrates a decade and a half of reform with its 15th Anniversary Gala at Union Station.

Use the above link for more information about the conference.

Michael H. Drucker
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