|
San Francisco
Charter Amendment for Instant Runoff Voting
Passed 55% - 45% on March 5,
2002
NOTE: This charter
amendment is available as an .rtf file that
most word processors should be able to open. If you have
any trouble opening the file, please contact us by email or phone, 301-270-4616.
CHARTER AMENDMENT
PROPOSITION ___
Describing and setting forth a proposal to the qualified
voters of the City and County of San Francisco to amend the Charter
of said city and county by amending Section 13.101, repealing the current Section 13.102, and
adding a new Section 13.102, to provide for the election of
the Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney, Treasurer,
Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and members of the Board of
Supervisors using a ranked-choice, or �instant run-off,� ballot, to
require that City voting systems be compatible with a ranked-choice
ballot system, and setting a date and conditions for
implementation.
The Board of Supervisors hereby submits to the qualified
voters of said city and county at an election to be held on March 5,
2002, a proposal to amend the Charter of said city and county by
amending Section 13.101, repealing
the current Section 13.102, and adding a new Section 13.102,
so that the same shall read as follows:
Note:
-
Additions are single-underline italics
Times New Roman;
-
deletions
are strikethrough italics
Times New Roman.
-
-
Board amendment deletions are
strikethrough normal.
Section 1. The
San Francisco Charter is hereby amended, by amending Section 13.101,
to read as follows:
SEC. 13.101.
TERMS OF ELECTIVE OFFICE.
Except in the case of an appointment or election to fill a
vacancy, the term of office of each elected officer shall commence
at 12:00 noon on the eighth day of January following the date of the
election.
Subject to the applicable provisions for municipal runoff
elections of
Section 13.102, the
elected
officers of the City and County shall be elected as
follows:
At the general municipal election in 1995 and every fourth
year thereafter, a Mayor, a Sheriff and a District Attorney shall be
elected.
At the statewide general election in 1996 and every fourth
year thereafter, four members of the Board of Education and four
members of the Governing Board of the Community College District
shall be elected.
At the general municipal election in 1997 and every fourth
year thereafter, a City Attorney and a Treasurer shall be
elected.
At the statewide primary election in 1998 and every fourth
year thereafter, an Assessor-Recorder and Public Defender shall be
elected.
At the statewide general election in 1998 and every fourth
year thereafter, three members of the Board of Education and three
members of the Governing Board of the Community College District
shall be elected.
The election and terms of office of members of the Board of
Supervisors shall be governed by Section
13.110.
Section 2. The San Francisco Charter is
hereby amended, by repealing current Section 13.102, as
follows:
SEC. 13.102. MUNICIPAL RUNOFF
ELECTIONS.
If no candidate for any elective office of
the City and County, except the Board of Education and the Governing
Board of the Community College District, receives a majority of the
votes cast at an election for such office, the two candidates
receiving the most votes shall qualify to have their names placed on
the ballot for a municipal runoff election. If no candidate for
Board of Supervisors receives a majority of the votes cast within
the district, the two candidates from the district receiving the
most votes shall qualify to have their names placed on the ballot
for a district runoff election. A runoff election for the office of
Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney, City Attorney and Treasurer, or a
district runoff election for Supervisor, shall be held on the second
Tuesday of the next ensuing December. A runoff election for
Assessor-Recorder and Public Defender shall be held at the next
general election.
Section 3. The San Francisco Charter is hereby amended, by
adding a new Section 13.102, to read as follows:
SEC. 13.102. INSTANT RUNOFF
ELECTIONS.
(a)
For the purposes of this section: (1) a candidate shall be deemed �continuing�
if the candidate has not been eliminated; (2) a ballot shall be
deemed �continuing� if it is not exhausted; and (3) a ballot
shall be deemed �exhausted,� and not counted in further stages of
the tabulation, if all of the choices have been eliminated or there
are no more choices indicated on the ballot. If a ranked-choice ballot
gives equal rank to two or more candidates, the ballot shall be
declared exhausted when such multiple rankings are reached. If a voter casts a
ranked-choice ballot but skips a rank, the voter�s vote shall be
transferred to that voter�s next ranked choice.
(b) The Mayor, Sheriff, District Attorney,
City Attorney, Treasurer, Assessor-Recorder, Public Defender, and
members of the Board of Supervisors shall be elected using a
ranked-choice, or �instant runoff,� ballot. The ballot shall allow
voters to rank a number of choices in order of preference equal to
the total number of candidates for each office; provided, however,
if the voting system, vote tabulation system, or similar or related
equipment used by the City and County cannot feasibly accommodate
choices equal to the total number of candidates running for each
office, then the Director of Elections may limit the number of
choices a voter may rank to no fewer than three,. The ballot shall in no way
interfere with a voter�s ability to cast a vote for a write-in
candidate.
(c)
If a candidate receives a majority of the first choices, that
candidate shall be declared elected. If no candidate receives a
majority, the candidate who received the fewest first choices shall
be eliminated and each vote
cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the next-ranked
candidate on that voter�s ballot. If, after this transfer of
votes, any candidate has a majority of the votes from the continuing ballots,
that candidate shall be declared
elected.
(d)
If no candidate receives a majority of votes from the
continuing ballots after a candidate has been eliminated and his or
her votes have been transferred to the next-ranked candidate, the
continuing candidate with the fewest votes from the continuing ballots
shall be eliminated.
All votes cast for that candidate shall be transferred to the
next-ranked continuing candidate on each voter�s ballot. This process of eliminating
candidates and transferring their votes to the next-ranked
continuing candidates shall be repeated until a candidate receives a
majority of the votes from the
continuing ballots.
(e)
If the total number of votes of the two or more candidates
credited with the lowest number of votes is less than the number of
votes credited to the candidate with the next highest number of
votes, those candidates with the lowest number of votes shall be
eliminated simultaneously and their votes transferred to the
next-ranked continuing candidate on each ballot in a single counting
operation.
(f)
A tie between two or more candidates shall be resolved in
accordance with State law.
(g)
The Department of Elections shall conduct a voter education
campaign to familiarize voters with the ranked-choice or �instant
runoff,� method of voting.
(h)
Any voting system, vote tabulation system, or similar or
related equipment acquired by the City and County shall have the
capability to accommodate this system of ranked-choice or �instant
run-off� balloting.
(i)
Ranked-choice, or �instant runoff,� balloting shall be used
for the general municipal election in November 2002 and all
subsequent elections.
If the Director of Elections certifies to the Board of
Supervisors and the Mayor no later than July 1, 2002 that the
Department of Elections will not be ready to implement ranked-choice
balloting in November 2002, then the City shall begin using
ranked-choice, or �instant runoff,� balloting at the November 2003
general municipal election.
If ranked-choice, or �instant runoff,�
balloting is not used in November of 2002, and no candidate for any
elective office of the City and County, except the Board of
Education and the Governing Board of the Community College District,
receives a majority of the votes cast at an election for such
office, the two candidates receiving the most votes shall qualify to
have their names placed on the ballot for a runoff election held on
the second Tuesday in December of 2002.
APPROVED AS TO
FORM:
LOUISE H. RENNE, City
Attorney
___________________________
MAXWELL S.
PELTZ
Deputy City
Attorney |
