Ferndale,
Michigan
Ferndale,
MI voters overwhelmingly pass Proposal B to authorize Instant Runoff
Voting (IRV)
Ferndale, MI – November 2, 2004 – Proposal
B on Ferndale, Michigan's ballot passed overwhelmingly today by
a margin of 6,522 (69.75%) to 2,828 (30.25%). The proposal amends
Ferndale's city charter to provide for election of the mayor and
City Council through the use of an Instant
Runoff Voting (IRV) system pending the availability and purchase
of compatible software and approval of the equipment by the Ferndale
Election Commission.
The Ferndale proposal was widely endorsed with supporters including
Mayor Robert Porter, Council-members Helen Marie Weber, Scott
Galloway and Craig Covey, the Ferndale Democratic Club, Green Party
of Michigan, Michigan Libertarian Party, The Detroit Free Press, The
Oakland Press, Alliance for Democracy of Metro Detroit, Triangle
Foundation, Michigan Election Reform Coalition and Public Interest
Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM). Instant Runoff Voting has also
been widely endorsed nationally by leading figures such as Democrats
Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich, Republican John McCain,
organizations such as the California, Washington and Vermont League
of Women Voters, and media outlets such as USA Today.
Instant Runoff Voting
is a simple to use, full-choice voting system whereby, when three or
more candidates run for a single seat, voters are allowed to rank
the candidates 1-2-3, etc. rather than simply choose their one
favorite candidate. If no candidate wins a majority of votes on the
first count, the last place candidate is eliminated, and then all
ballots are counted again with each counting for the highest ranked
candidate still in contention. This process continues until one
candidate has a majority of the votes and is declared the winner. In
Ferndale's two-seat Council races, the process would be similar.
Runoffs would be held until one candidate wins over 50% of the
votes, earning the first seat. This candidate would then be removed
from the counting and a similar process would take place until a
second person won over 50%, earning the second seat.
IRV eliminates the “spoiler”
problem, whereby a candidate who cannot win him or herself gets
enough votes to throw the election to some other candidate who is
favored by a minority. This problem gained national attention in the
2000 presidential election when Ralph Nader received more votes in
some states than the difference between George W. Bush and Al Gore's
totals, potentially swinging the election to Bush. However,
“spoiler” incidents have also occurred in many other races
including the 1992 presidential election (where Ross Perot
“spoiled the election for George Bush, Sr.) and Michigan's 2002
attorney general's race (where Green candidate Jerry Kaufman
“spoiled” Democrat Gary Peters).
In addition, IRV has been shown to increase voter turnout, since
voters are allowed to express their complete set of preferences and
thus feel empowered. It encourages more candidates to run for office
and promotes positive issue-based campaigns, discouraging
mudslinging among candidates who must compete for second and
third-place votes from each others' supporters. It also more
accurately gauges the true level of support that exists for each
candidate since voters are no longer afraid that a vote for their
favorite candidate may help his or her political opposite.
Ferndale follows in the footsteps of other cities that have recently
passed related measures including San
Francisco and Berkeley,
California. San Francisco's residents passed Proposition A by a
55%-45% margin in March 2002, adopting Instant Runoff Voting to
elect the mayor, Board of Supervisors, district attorney, sheriff,
treasurer, city attorney, public defender, and tax assessor. The
system was used today for the first time there to fill several
Supervisor seats. Berkeley, CA residents passed Measure I on March
2, 2004 by a margin of 72%-28%, enabling the use of IRV to elect the
mayor, City Council and auditor, as soon as the system is deemed
cost-effective to implement.
The system is also used to elect the president of Ireland, the mayor
of London, the Australian House of Representatives and in other
countries throughout the world. It is used by many professional
organizations including the American Political Science Association.
In addition to being considered in cities and states across the
country, H.R.
5293, recently introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives
by Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., would require states to conduct
general elections for Federal office using an instant runoff voting
system.
Ferndale for Instant Runoff Voting coordinator Howard Ditkoff said,
“We are so proud of the good citizens of Ferndale. Today they
expressed clearly their desire for an improved democracy where no
candidate is a 'spoiler', where no vote is wasted, where all elected
officials enjoy majority support, and where voters can vote their
hopes rather than their fears. In doing so, they have set a hopeful
example to Michigan and the nation. We thank all of our supporters
and wonderful volunteers for their hard work and effort to bring
attention to this crucial and fundamental reform in our election
system, which we hope will be implemented even
more widely in the near future.”
Interested readers can learn more online at: http://www.firv.org
For more information on Instant Runoff Voting, visit http://www.fairvote.org/irv |