Santa Monicans have been talking about election reform for a decade. Now two newcomers — a physicist and a science writer — are doing something about it.
Amy Connolly and Julie Walters founded Santa Monica Ranked Voting earlier this year to build a constituency for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) and Choice Voting and have just launched a web site; www.smrankedvoting.org.
According to Connolly, “IRV and Choice Voting increase voter choice and give people a greater say in who wins elections, by empowering voters to rank their first, second and third choices. If a voter’s favorite candidate is not elected, their vote goes to their next choice and so on, until it helps elect someone.
“Choice Voting is designed for multi-seat elections, like Santa Monica’s, where several people are elected at a time. But, in contrast to Santa Monica’s current system, Choice Voting makes it easy for voters to rank their choices for all of the seats, without fear that a vote for one of their lower choices would help defeat their favorite. Choice Voting also helps render a more directly proportional result, helping ensure that all aspects of our community are fairly represented.”
“We hope that our website will be a meeting ground and a resource where people in Santa Monica can learn about the benefits of IRV and Choice Voting and learn how to get involved,” said Walters. “The groundwork has been laid for implementation of IRV and Choice Voting in our community. Santa Monicans have a unique opportunity to lead in election reform on the national stage.”
In 1992, a Santa Monica Charter Review Commission recommended — by an 8-5-1 vote — Choice Voting for Santa Monica’s municipal elections, but the recommendation was not adopted.
In 1999, prior to a special election, City Council members asked City staff to explore IRV as an option for future special elections. Both Mayor pro tem Kevin McKeown and Council member Michael Feinstein have spoken in favor of IRV and Choice Voting.
In 2002, after conducting a study of voting systems, the Santa Monica League of Women Voters indicated that it would support “consideration of alternative voting systems in Santa Monica elections with a special emphasis on … Choice Voting.”
Connolly began doing volunteer work for voting reform and IRV through the Midwest Democracy Center following the 2000 elections. She moved to Santa Monica from Chicago last September. A physicist, she is working on a project at UCLA that uses Antarctic ice to search for rare particles called neutrinos that reach earth after traveling through our galaxy.
A resident of West Los Angeles since September, Walters is a science writer/editor working with a research group in the engineering department at UCLA.
Santa Monica Ranked Voting will hold its next meeting on April 6. The time and place will be announced on its website.
Amy Connolly and Julie Walters founded Santa Monica Ranked Voting earlier this year to build a constituency for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) and Choice Voting and have just launched a web site; www.smrankedvoting.org.
According to Connolly, “IRV and Choice Voting increase voter choice and give people a greater say in who wins elections, by empowering voters to rank their first, second and third choices. If a voter’s favorite candidate is not elected, their vote goes to their next choice and so on, until it helps elect someone.
“Choice Voting is designed for multi-seat elections, like Santa Monica’s, where several people are elected at a time. But, in contrast to Santa Monica’s current system, Choice Voting makes it easy for voters to rank their choices for all of the seats, without fear that a vote for one of their lower choices would help defeat their favorite. Choice Voting also helps render a more directly proportional result, helping ensure that all aspects of our community are fairly represented.”
“We hope that our website will be a meeting ground and a resource where people in Santa Monica can learn about the benefits of IRV and Choice Voting and learn how to get involved,” said Walters. “The groundwork has been laid for implementation of IRV and Choice Voting in our community. Santa Monicans have a unique opportunity to lead in election reform on the national stage.”
In 1992, a Santa Monica Charter Review Commission recommended — by an 8-5-1 vote — Choice Voting for Santa Monica’s municipal elections, but the recommendation was not adopted.
In 1999, prior to a special election, City Council members asked City staff to explore IRV as an option for future special elections. Both Mayor pro tem Kevin McKeown and Council member Michael Feinstein have spoken in favor of IRV and Choice Voting.
In 2002, after conducting a study of voting systems, the Santa Monica League of Women Voters indicated that it would support “consideration of alternative voting systems in Santa Monica elections with a special emphasis on … Choice Voting.”
Connolly began doing volunteer work for voting reform and IRV through the Midwest Democracy Center following the 2000 elections. She moved to Santa Monica from Chicago last September. A physicist, she is working on a project at UCLA that uses Antarctic ice to search for rare particles called neutrinos that reach earth after traveling through our galaxy.
A resident of West Los Angeles since September, Walters is a science writer/editor working with a research group in the engineering department at UCLA.
Santa Monica Ranked Voting will hold its next meeting on April 6. The time and place will be announced on its website.
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.