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Election Watch
July 5, 2003
Dear supporters of IRV in San
Francisco: This Wednesday, July 16, at 7 pm will be the most
important Elections Commission meeting yet. The agenda of the
Elections Commission includes an item to set a date -- possibly as
soon as late July -- to pull the plug on IRV for November's
election. This date is unreasonable, as the Secretary of State's
certification process will not be completed yet. We need to fill the
meeting with people who can give them a strong message: DON'T PULL
THE PLUG!!! WILLIE BROWN IS ORGANIZING TO STOP IRV. The word is
that Willie Brown is making phone calls and actively recruiting
people to show up at this Wednesday's Elections Commission meeting,
as well as to the Secretary of State's certification panel in
Sacramento on July 28. His accomplices at the consultant firm
Barnes, Moser and Whitehurst (BMW) are renting vans to bring people
to the Sec of State certification panel in Sacramento on July 28.
They are pulling out all the stops, trying to affect the Sec of
State's decision, as well as that of the Elections Commission --
trying to squash this pro-democracy reform and the will of the
voters. We CAN and WILL fight back. Please come to this meeting of
the Elections Commission to support implementation of IRV for this
November's elections. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING. We urgently
need to fill the Elections Commission meeting with people speaking
in support of NOT PULLING THE PLUG ON IRV (see below for a suggested
message for your testimony). Also, for those who can not make the
meeting, below are the email addresses of most of the commissioners.
Please email them your testimony (see sample letter below).
Elections Commission meeting Wednesday, July 16 7PM, City Hall,
Room 400 (If you can not stay to speak on the agenda item your
input can be heard at the very beginning of the meeting during the
general public comment period). BRIEF BACKGROUND:
There are two
procedures for counting IRV ballots awaiting certification by the
Secretary of State. One procedure is from the voting equipment
vendor ES&S for the upgrade to their existing optical scan (not
touchscreens) equipment for conducting a fully automated count. The
second procedure is from the Department of Elections, a backup plan
in case it takes too long for the first application to be certified
for this November. It's what is known as a "partial hand count." The
Voting Systems Panel will meet on July 28th in Sacramento to review
and decide about the Dept of Elections' backup plan. The panel date
has not been set yet for ES&S' application, but should hear that
application sometime in mid-August. We urgently need to fill the
Elections Commission meeting this Wednesday evening with people
speaking in support of NOT PULLING THE PLUG ON IRV before the Sec of
State has decided on certification of the pending procedures.
SAMPLE LETTER OR TESTIMONY: Dear Elections Commission, Instant
runoff voting is the law in San Francisco. Pulling the plug on
implementation and not implementing the law is a very serious
matter. We already have problems with voter cynicism and apathy, and
choosing to not implement the law or the will of the voters will
contribute to more cynicism, more apathy. Therefore, the Elections
Commission should do everything it can to allow the maximum amount
of time for implementation before making such a momentous decision.
It seems entirely reasonable to wait until the certification process
of the Secretary of State's office has been completed for both
pending applications before making any decision about pulling the
plug. The voters passed instant runoff voting, and the Elections
Commission and the Department of Elections needs to do everything in
their power to not cut it off while it is going through the normal
certification procedures. The vendor's application is moving
forward, they have received federal certification and now we are
waiting for state certification. Let's give this process a fair
chance to work. It's what the voters voted for. Please do not stop
the implementation process prematurely. Sincerely, (name and
organizational affiliation, if any) Here is contact info for the
seven commissioners:
Tom Schultz [email protected]
Brenda
Stowers [email protected]
Richard Shadoian [email protected]
Alix Rosenthal [email protected], [email protected]
Rev. Arnold
Townsend [email protected]
Michael Mendelson, 415-391-0555 fax
Commission Secretary
Shirley Rodriques, [email protected]
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