Legislation to bring California into the National Popular Vote plan
to reform presidential elections passed the Senate by a margin of 23 to
14. The passage follows approval by the California Assembly on May
30th. The bill now returns to the Assembly to reconcile the two
versions.
The National Popular Vote plan continues to gain
support across the country. Identical legislation has passed the
Colorado State Senate, passed a key Louisiana committee, had a hearing
in Missouri, won bipartisan and independent support among legislators
in Illinois and has been introduced into the New York Assembly.
Legislation is likely in dozens of states in 2007.
[ Urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 2948 ]
[ Rob Richie's Letter to the Governor ]
[Associated Press Story]
[FairVote�s Presidential Elections Inequality Report]
[National Popular Vote]
National Popular Vote Plan Passes California Senate
Progress continues toward presidential elections in which every vote is equal
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San Francisco Exit Poll Study Affirms Instant Runoff Voting Success
Overwhelming support for IRV over old runoff system
 The
Public Research Institute of San Francisco State University this month
released a comprehensive analysis of exit polls during San Francisco's
first citywide instant runoff election in 2005. Voters were three times
more likely to say voting with instant runoff voting (IRV) was easy than it was difficult, and
preferred IRV over the old two-round runoff system by a margin of three
to one -- support that extended to every group of voters as defined by
party, race, gender, age and neighborhood. Other analyses have shown
almost no voter error and much higher turnout than would have taken place with the
old runoff system.Among the report's findings: - Even though nearly half went to the polls not knowing they were going to use the system, only 2.7% found it "very difficult". Understanding of the system was very high. A majority said they understood IRV "perfectly well", 86% said at least fairly well and only 3% said not at all. - African American voters were the most likely to rank three people in the contested assessor-recorder race. Of those saying it was easy to rank three candidates (about three times those saying it was difficult), the highest percentages for saying it was easy were those with less than high school degrees, and a higher percentage of African Americans than whites. [Read the Public Research Institute's Final IRV Report] [San Francisco Ranked-Choice Voting website] |
Davis, CA City Council Puts Choice Voting on November Ballot
Movement Prompted by Student Use at UC-Davis
 The Davis, CA City Council members on July 11 placed choice voting on the November ballot. A "yes" to the advisory question will ask the City Council to consider implementation pending the city's formal chartering. Students at the University of California - Davis, who successfully adopted the system for use in campus elections, urged the city's charter review commission to consider reform. Upon studying the benefits for fair representation and voter choice, commissioners unanimously recommended choice voting for city elections. The Davis story shows that dedicated advocates can sell choice voting and other reforms on their merits. [Sacramento Bee Article On Choice Voting] |