By Shane Mizer
Published January 10th 2006 in Eureka Reporter
Revitalizing efforts to bring ranked-choice voting to Humboldt County,
past members of the Voter Confidence Committee have established a new
voter reform group known as the Humboldt Voters Association.
“In order to better undertake the strategies we would like to follow to realize an election system that would more accurately reflect the opinions of the voting populace, we decided it would be best to start a new organization,” Scott Menzies, a Eureka resident and one of the original co-founders of the Voter Confidence Committee, said in a news release.
Currently, Eureka’s elections are set up to reward the candidate with the highest number of votes in its general elections, which could be obtained by reaching a plurality rather than a majority. The difference between reaching a plurality and majority in election matters is that a plurality can be reached by gathering less than 50 percent of the total votes, whereas a majority can only be obtained by achieving 50 percent plus one of the voting populace.
If voters in Eureka were to approve a revision to the city charter to adopt ranked-choice voting, also known as instant run-off voting when describing single-seat races or choice voting when referring to multiseat races, ballots would allow voters the ability to rank candidates in order of preference. “It would be a lengthy and complicated process which may involve the creation of a charter commission,” Eureka city clerk Kathleen Franco Simmons said.
San Francisco voters approved instant run-off voting for its supervisors’ races in 2002.
According to Menzies, the ability to rank candidates could allow for elections to always reflect the will of the majority of voters. If votes are counted on the first round and no candidate achieves a majority to determine the winner, then a process of elimination is used to solve the dilemma. The voters who picked the candidate with the least votes as their first choice would then be reviewed for their second-choice candidate. The second-choice candidate of those voters would then be transferred to the two candidates who originally received the highest number of votes, until one of them reaches a majority.
“Instant run-off voting is based on the premise that a 50 percent plus one majority is better than a simple plurality where the most votes win — to achieve that you have opportunities to rank your choices,” Humboldt County Elections Manager Lindsey McWilliams said. “I’m not saying one way or another whether it’s a bad thing. In my position, I’m (impartial), but if it’s something that the majority of the people want, then we’ll do it.”
According to Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich, in order for a preferential system like instant run-off voting to be used in county elections, state legislation would first have to enact a measure to allow the county to count votes in that manner.
Menzies said that rankedchoice voting eliminates the use of mudslinging during campaigns because candidates are interested not only in obtaining a voter’s first choice, but a voter’s second choice as well.
Previously, the Voter Confidence Committee held local presentations on ranked-choice voting, conducting a “citizens’ parallel election” in Arcata, which tracked the results of the November special election, and rallied for the city of Arcata to adopt their Voter Confidence Resolution.
Dave Berman, also a co-founder of the VCC, who plans to continue efforts for election reform within the VCC said he, too, would continue to advocate for ranked-choice voting. However, Berman also intends to continue investigating whether Diebold Inc. violated federal guidelines by the alleged use of an unapproved interpreter code in the company’s voting machine software.
Menzies said one of the reasons for the timing of his decision to break away from the VCC and form another election reform group with the primary focus of advocating ranked-choice voting came in preparation for the first meeting of the newly established Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee, which Menzies, along with other HVA members Dave Ogden, Beth Hermann and Mark Konkler, took part in last Thursday night.
The HCEAC was formed, on the suggestion of the Board of Supervisors, to provide the Humboldt County Elections Department with more researching capabilities to assess alternative voting systems while the county strives to fulfill the requirements of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Both past members of the VCC, Menzies and Konkler also acknowledged they did not agree with the campaign tactics of Berman after he recently called for the resignations of local election officials Lindsey McWilliams and Crnich.
Berman claimed McWilliams and Crnich should be held responsible for not taking the proper steps to safeguard Humboldt County’s voters in light of recent reports challenging the security of Diebold’s voting machine software, which is currently used in Humboldt County elections.
“The truth of the matter is that calling for the resignation of the election members is not something the rest of the members were interested in,” Menzies said.
The Humboldt Voters Association will be conducting a seminar at Humboldt State University’s North Coast Educational Summit called “Voting Sucks” on Feb. 4 from 2:30-4 p.m.
(City clerk Kathleen Franco Simmons is the wife of The Eureka Reporter’s Managing Editor Glenn Franco Simmons)
“In order to better undertake the strategies we would like to follow to realize an election system that would more accurately reflect the opinions of the voting populace, we decided it would be best to start a new organization,” Scott Menzies, a Eureka resident and one of the original co-founders of the Voter Confidence Committee, said in a news release.
Currently, Eureka’s elections are set up to reward the candidate with the highest number of votes in its general elections, which could be obtained by reaching a plurality rather than a majority. The difference between reaching a plurality and majority in election matters is that a plurality can be reached by gathering less than 50 percent of the total votes, whereas a majority can only be obtained by achieving 50 percent plus one of the voting populace.
If voters in Eureka were to approve a revision to the city charter to adopt ranked-choice voting, also known as instant run-off voting when describing single-seat races or choice voting when referring to multiseat races, ballots would allow voters the ability to rank candidates in order of preference. “It would be a lengthy and complicated process which may involve the creation of a charter commission,” Eureka city clerk Kathleen Franco Simmons said.
San Francisco voters approved instant run-off voting for its supervisors’ races in 2002.
According to Menzies, the ability to rank candidates could allow for elections to always reflect the will of the majority of voters. If votes are counted on the first round and no candidate achieves a majority to determine the winner, then a process of elimination is used to solve the dilemma. The voters who picked the candidate with the least votes as their first choice would then be reviewed for their second-choice candidate. The second-choice candidate of those voters would then be transferred to the two candidates who originally received the highest number of votes, until one of them reaches a majority.
“Instant run-off voting is based on the premise that a 50 percent plus one majority is better than a simple plurality where the most votes win — to achieve that you have opportunities to rank your choices,” Humboldt County Elections Manager Lindsey McWilliams said. “I’m not saying one way or another whether it’s a bad thing. In my position, I’m (impartial), but if it’s something that the majority of the people want, then we’ll do it.”
According to Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich, in order for a preferential system like instant run-off voting to be used in county elections, state legislation would first have to enact a measure to allow the county to count votes in that manner.
Menzies said that rankedchoice voting eliminates the use of mudslinging during campaigns because candidates are interested not only in obtaining a voter’s first choice, but a voter’s second choice as well.
Previously, the Voter Confidence Committee held local presentations on ranked-choice voting, conducting a “citizens’ parallel election” in Arcata, which tracked the results of the November special election, and rallied for the city of Arcata to adopt their Voter Confidence Resolution.
Dave Berman, also a co-founder of the VCC, who plans to continue efforts for election reform within the VCC said he, too, would continue to advocate for ranked-choice voting. However, Berman also intends to continue investigating whether Diebold Inc. violated federal guidelines by the alleged use of an unapproved interpreter code in the company’s voting machine software.
Menzies said one of the reasons for the timing of his decision to break away from the VCC and form another election reform group with the primary focus of advocating ranked-choice voting came in preparation for the first meeting of the newly established Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee, which Menzies, along with other HVA members Dave Ogden, Beth Hermann and Mark Konkler, took part in last Thursday night.
The HCEAC was formed, on the suggestion of the Board of Supervisors, to provide the Humboldt County Elections Department with more researching capabilities to assess alternative voting systems while the county strives to fulfill the requirements of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Both past members of the VCC, Menzies and Konkler also acknowledged they did not agree with the campaign tactics of Berman after he recently called for the resignations of local election officials Lindsey McWilliams and Crnich.
Berman claimed McWilliams and Crnich should be held responsible for not taking the proper steps to safeguard Humboldt County’s voters in light of recent reports challenging the security of Diebold’s voting machine software, which is currently used in Humboldt County elections.
“The truth of the matter is that calling for the resignation of the election members is not something the rest of the members were interested in,” Menzies said.
The Humboldt Voters Association will be conducting a seminar at Humboldt State University’s North Coast Educational Summit called “Voting Sucks” on Feb. 4 from 2:30-4 p.m.
(City clerk Kathleen Franco Simmons is the wife of The Eureka Reporter’s Managing Editor Glenn Franco Simmons)
