Cumulative voting growing
Re. Nov. 16 news story,

By Dan Johnson-Weinberger
Published November 22nd 2003 in Peoria Journal-Star
The article about cumulative voting rights for Peoria's at-large City
Council elections left the impression that very few places in the
country give cumulative voting rights.

1. This year the Illinois General Assembly passed a law that allows
county boards to give cumulative voting rights to voters in multi-
seat districts.

2. About 70 cities and school boards in the United States (mostly in
Texas and Oklahoma) give cumulative voting rights in at-large
elections.

3. Several Illinois corporations give shareholders cumulative voting
rights in the election of their boards of directors, in order to
allow a minority of shareholders an opportunity to elect a
representative to the board.

While cumulative voting rights are certainly not a mainstream feature
of United States elections, it isn't quite as unique as your article
may have implied.

Dan Johnson-Weinberger
Director, Midwest Democracy Center
Chicago

IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
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.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

Links