By Joe Piasecki
Published April 18th 2007 in Pasadena Weekly
It's time to start thinking of changing the way we vote, say some area activists and citizens groups who want your help in reforming the Pasadena elections system.
Tuesday's winner-take-all runoff election cost city taxpayers and Pasadena Unified School District taxpayers more than $200,000 according to City Clerk Jane Rodriguez.
Had instant runoff voting (IRV) been in use, say proponents, not only would taxpayers have saved time and money, the results would be a more accurate representation of citizen support.
With IRV, voters rank candidates according to preference, and if no candidate receives a majority of first choice votes, the additional rankings are used to determine the majority winner.
To find out more, join the League of Women Voters, the New America Foundation and others for a forum on the subject at 7 p.m. next Thursday, April 26, at Pasadena College.
Or, if you're a hands-on learner, turn back to page 9 to fill out a mock IRV ballot to be used in a demonstration at the forum.
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.