For decades, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have used choice voting to select Oscar nominees. The process has long been seen as a fair way of representing the breadth of quality films released in a given year, while allowing underdog films to have a chance at winning awards. Choice voting, a proportional voting method, is used for governmental elections around the world, but proportional voting is also widely used in non-governmental elections.[Choice Voting Information]
[Variety Magazine on Oscar Balloting]
[Hollywood Reporter on Oscar Balloting]
[Canadian Press on Oscar Balloting]
With the Providence City Council weighing the addition of new “at-large” seats to its existing 15 single member districts, the city may have a chance to make municipal government more representative. City Councilman Seth Yurdin has used the opportunity to introduce a resolution that would add six at-large seats to the council, to be elected through the choice voting method of proportional representation. Choice voting has long been used by nearby Cambridge (MA) and has the support of State Rep. David Segal. Co-authored by FairVote RI Director Ari Savitzky, Segal has published a recent piece in the Providence Journal to make the case for choice voting in Providence.
The National Latino Congreso unanimously endorsed a resolution by Californians for Election Reform calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 1294, a bill allowing general law counties and cities in California to implement proportional representation and instant runoff voting should they so choose. 