Instant Runoff Voting Charter Amendment for San Francisco Placed on
ballot on July 9, 2001 NOTE: This charter amendment is available as an Word document. CHARTER AMENDMENT PROPOSITION A
Describing and setting forth a proposal to the qualified voters of
the City and County of San Francisco to amend the Charter of said city and
county by amending Section 13.101, repealing
the current Section 13.102, and adding a new Section 13.102, to
provide for the election of the Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City
Attorney, Treasurer, Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and members of
the Board of Supervisors using a ranked-choice, or ģinstant run-off,ī
ballot, to require that City voting systems be compatible with a
ranked-choice ballot system, and setting a date and conditions for
implementation.
The Board of Supervisors hereby submits to the qualified voters of
said city and county at an election to be held on March 5, 2002, a
proposal to amend the Charter of said city and county by amending Section
13.101, repealing
the current Section 13.102, and adding a new Section 13.102, so
that the same shall read as follows: Note:
Section 1. The San
Francisco Charter is hereby amended, by amending Section 13.101, to read
as follows: SEC.
13.101.
TERMS OF ELECTIVE OFFICE.
Except in the case of an appointment or election to fill a vacancy,
the term of office of each elected officer shall commence at 12:00 noon on
the eighth day of January following the date of the election.
Subject to the
applicable provisions
At the general municipal election in 1995 and every fourth year
thereafter, a Mayor, a Sheriff and a District Attorney shall be elected.
At the statewide general election in 1996 and every fourth year
thereafter, four members of the Board of Education and four members of the
Governing Board of the Community College District shall be elected.
At the general municipal election in 1997 and every fourth year
thereafter, a City Attorney and a Treasurer shall be elected.
At the statewide primary election in 1998 and every fourth year
thereafter, an Assessor-Recorder and Public Defender shall be elected.
At the statewide general election in 1998 and every fourth year
thereafter, three members of the Board of Education and three members of
the Governing Board of the Community College District shall be elected.
The election and terms of office of members of the Board of
Supervisors shall be governed by Section 13.110. Section
2. The San Francisco Charter
is hereby amended, by repealing current Section 13.102, as follows:
Section 3. The San Francisco Charter is hereby amended, by adding a
new Section 13.102, to read as follows: SEC.
13.102. INSTANT
RUNOFF ELECTIONS.
(a)
For the purposes of this section: (1)
a candidate shall be deemed ģcontinuingī if the candidate has not been
eliminated; (2) a ballot shall be deemed ģcontinuingī if it is not
exhausted; and (3) a ballot shall be deemed ģexhausted,ī and
not counted in further stages of the tabulation, if all of the choices
have been eliminated or there are no more choices indicated on the ballot.
If a ranked-choice ballot gives equal rank to two or more
candidates, the ballot shall be declared exhausted when such multiple
rankings are reached.
If a voter casts a ranked-choice ballot but skips a rank, the
voterķs vote shall be transferred to that voterķs next ranked choice. (b)
The Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, Treasurer,
Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and members of the Board of
Supervisors shall be elected using a ranked-choice, or ģinstant
runoff,ī ballot.
The ballot shall allow voters to rank a number of choices in order
of preference equal to the total number of candidates for each office;
provided, however, if the voting system, vote tabulation system, or
similar or related equipment used by the City and County cannot feasibly
accommodate choices equal to the total number of candidates running for
each office, then the Director of Elections may limit the number of
choices a voter may rank to no fewer than three,.
The ballot shall in no way interfere with a voterķs ability to
cast a vote for a write-in candidate.
(c)
If a candidate receives a majority of the first choices, that
candidate shall be declared elected.
If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate who received the
fewest first choices shall be eliminated and each
vote cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the next-ranked
candidate on that voterķs ballot.
If, after this transfer of votes, any candidate has a majority of
the votes
from the continuing ballots, that candidate shall be declared
elected. (d)
If no candidate receives a majority of votes from the continuing
ballots after a candidate has been eliminated and his or her votes have
been transferred to the next-ranked candidate, the continuing candidate
with the fewest votes
from the continuing ballots shall be eliminated.
All votes cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the
next-ranked continuing candidate on each voterķs ballot.
This process of eliminating candidates and transferring their votes
to the next-ranked continuing candidates shall be repeated until a
candidate receives a majority of the
votes from the continuing ballots. (e)
If the total number of votes of the two or more candidates credited
with the lowest number of votes is less than the number of votes credited
to the candidate with the next highest number of votes, those candidates
with the lowest number of votes shall be eliminated simultaneously and
their votes transferred to the next-ranked continuing candidate on each
ballot in a single counting operation. (f)
A tie between two or more candidates shall be resolved in
accordance with State law. (g)
The Department of Elections shall conduct a voter education
campaign to familiarize voters with the ranked-choice or ģinstant
runoff,ī method of voting.
(h)
Any voting system, vote tabulation system, or similar or related
equipment acquired by the City and County shall have the capability to
accommodate this system of ranked-choice or ģinstant run-offī
balloting. (i)
Ranked-choice, or ģinstant runoff,ī balloting shall be used for
the general municipal election in November 2002 and all subsequent
elections. If the Director of
Elections certifies to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor no later
than July 1, 2002 that the Department of Elections will not be ready to
implement ranked-choice balloting in November 2002, then the City shall
begin using ranked-choice, or ģinstant runoff,ī balloting at the
November 2003 general municipal election. If
ranked-choice, or ģinstant runoff,ī balloting is not used in November
of 2002, and no candidate for any elective office of the City and County,
except the Board of Education and the Governing Board of the Community
College District, receives a majority of the votes cast at an election for
such office, the two candidates receiving the most votes shall qualify to
have their names placed on the ballot for a runoff election held on the
second Tuesday in December of 2002. APPROVED
AS TO FORM: LOUISE
H. RENNE, City Attorney ___________________________ MAXWELL
S. PELTZ Deputy City Attorney |