Oakland council will discuss a possible instant runoff measure
By By Heather MacDonald
Published June 30th 2006 in Oroville Mercury-Register
OAKLAND — The City Council's Rules Committee relented Thursday and
agreed to consider placing a measure on the November ballot amending
the City Charter to allow instant runoff voting.
The powerful Rules Committee, chaired by council President Ignacio De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale), will take up the issue again July 13.
The full council is scheduled to discuss instant runoff voting at its July 18 meeting.
In instant runoff voting, rather than voting for one candidate, a voter ranks three candidates in the order of his or her preference. If the first choice fails to win a majority of votes in the first round of tabulations, votes for a voter's second and then third choices are counted.
A week ago, De La Fuente, along with Councilmembers Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East Oakland) and Henry Chang Jr. (At-Large), declined to schedule a discussion. De La Fuente said he was concerned instant runoff voting, also known as rank-choice voting, would disenfranchise minority voters.
Reid says he also opposes instant runoff voting.
Councilmember Jane Brunner (North Oakland) said she favored placing the issue on the council's agenda.
The charter amendment was introduced by Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) and Patricia Kernighan (Grand Lake-Chinatown). Kernighan faces a runoff against local businesswoman Aimee Allison in her bid for re-election.
The proposal would move local elections to the November election from the June primary, when voter turnout is historically much lower, and save the nearly $200,000 runoff elections cost.
Instant runoff voting has been used in Berkeley and San Francisco, and it is supported by a consortium of local groups, including the League of Women Voters.
Contact Heather MacDonald at [email protected].
The powerful Rules Committee, chaired by council President Ignacio De La Fuente (Glenview-Fruitvale), will take up the issue again July 13.
The full council is scheduled to discuss instant runoff voting at its July 18 meeting.
In instant runoff voting, rather than voting for one candidate, a voter ranks three candidates in the order of his or her preference. If the first choice fails to win a majority of votes in the first round of tabulations, votes for a voter's second and then third choices are counted.
A week ago, De La Fuente, along with Councilmembers Larry Reid (Elmhurst-East Oakland) and Henry Chang Jr. (At-Large), declined to schedule a discussion. De La Fuente said he was concerned instant runoff voting, also known as rank-choice voting, would disenfranchise minority voters.
Reid says he also opposes instant runoff voting.
Councilmember Jane Brunner (North Oakland) said she favored placing the issue on the council's agenda.
The charter amendment was introduced by Councilmembers Nancy Nadel (Downtown-West Oakland) and Patricia Kernighan (Grand Lake-Chinatown). Kernighan faces a runoff against local businesswoman Aimee Allison in her bid for re-election.
The proposal would move local elections to the November election from the June primary, when voter turnout is historically much lower, and save the nearly $200,000 runoff elections cost.
Instant runoff voting has been used in Berkeley and San Francisco, and it is supported by a consortium of local groups, including the League of Women Voters.
Contact Heather MacDonald at [email protected].
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.