Instant runoff voting is still a possibility in Oakland, thanks to an
about-face by City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente.
In instant runoff voting, which also is called ranked choice voting, voters select up to three candidates, ranking them first, second or third in order of preference.
If the voters' first choice doesn't win a majority of votes in the first round of tabulations, votes for their second and then third candidates are counted.
Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Pat Kernighan, the League of Women Voters and others recently proposed that Oakland have such a voting system, saying that it would boost voter turnout and avoid costly runoff systems.
They want the City Council to act by the end of July to place an instant runoff voting measure on the November ballot. If the city's voters approved the measure, the new voting system would be in place by 2008, they say.
But De La Fuente, who is chairman of the City Council's Rules and Legislation Committee, didn't allow any substantive discussion of the issue for two straight weeks.
De La Fuente remains skeptical of instant runoff voting, but he said he has now allowed the proposal by Nadel and Kernighan to be discussed at the Rules Committee's meeting on July 13 and at the full council meeting on July 18.
De La Fuente said, "I never said I was against it or for it. I just wanted answers to some questions because I think it's our responsibility to ask questions.''
He said city officials will submit a report at the July 13 committee meeting that will address his concerns, which are whether instant runoff voting disenfranchises minority groups and whether it increases or decreases voter turnout.
De La Fuente said in San Francisco, which was one of the first cities in the country to use ranked choice voting, a high percentage of minority voters were confused by the system and "had no idea what to do'' when they voted.
Nadel said she's happy that her proposal is moving forward now and she thinks De La Fuente's concerns about minority voters can be addressed by educating voters about how to use the new system.
She said she thinks instant runoff voting is "very important in the democratic process.''
Although Nadel and others want Oakland to use instant runoff voting, it's difficult and time-consuming to implement such a system, according to election officials around the state.
Secretary of State spokeswoman Nghia Nguyen Demovic said there's not a single instant runoff system in the state that's approved for use in California, not even in San Francisco. San Francisco's certification expired at the end of last year, she said.
Demovic said there's a three-tiered process for election machine vendors to get approval: getting federal approval, meeting stringent standards in the county where the machines will be used, and going through volume testing.
San Francisco Department of Elections Deputy Director Linda Tulett said she expects that the city's current vendor, Elections Systems and Software, will be recertified in time for the November election.
If it isn't, San Francisco will do a hand count because its charter now calls for ranked choice voting to be used for all elections, she said.
Tulett said she believes San Francisco is the only city in the state and one of only a few cities in the country to use ranked choice voting.
Berkeley voters approved an instant runoff voting measure in March 2004, but the system hasn't been implemented yet because the measure specified that such a system can only be used if it can be integrated with county elections and if it doesn't increase city election costs.
Acting City Clerk Sherry Kelly said instant runoff voting won't be used in 2006 and the earliest the city could use it would be in 2008.
She said one of the problems is that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters only recently hired a new vendor, Sequoia Systems of Oakland, and it will take the vendor some time to develop software that will be certified by the state so Berkeley and other cities in the county can use it for instant runoff voting.
"It takes a long time -- it's a two-year process,'' Kelly said.
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates had hoped that instant runoff voting would be in place for the November election, according to his spokesman, Cisco DeVries.
"It's very disappointing for us,'' he said.
In instant runoff voting, which also is called ranked choice voting, voters select up to three candidates, ranking them first, second or third in order of preference.
If the voters' first choice doesn't win a majority of votes in the first round of tabulations, votes for their second and then third candidates are counted.
Councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Pat Kernighan, the League of Women Voters and others recently proposed that Oakland have such a voting system, saying that it would boost voter turnout and avoid costly runoff systems.
They want the City Council to act by the end of July to place an instant runoff voting measure on the November ballot. If the city's voters approved the measure, the new voting system would be in place by 2008, they say.
But De La Fuente, who is chairman of the City Council's Rules and Legislation Committee, didn't allow any substantive discussion of the issue for two straight weeks.
De La Fuente remains skeptical of instant runoff voting, but he said he has now allowed the proposal by Nadel and Kernighan to be discussed at the Rules Committee's meeting on July 13 and at the full council meeting on July 18.
De La Fuente said, "I never said I was against it or for it. I just wanted answers to some questions because I think it's our responsibility to ask questions.''
He said city officials will submit a report at the July 13 committee meeting that will address his concerns, which are whether instant runoff voting disenfranchises minority groups and whether it increases or decreases voter turnout.
De La Fuente said in San Francisco, which was one of the first cities in the country to use ranked choice voting, a high percentage of minority voters were confused by the system and "had no idea what to do'' when they voted.
Nadel said she's happy that her proposal is moving forward now and she thinks De La Fuente's concerns about minority voters can be addressed by educating voters about how to use the new system.
She said she thinks instant runoff voting is "very important in the democratic process.''
Although Nadel and others want Oakland to use instant runoff voting, it's difficult and time-consuming to implement such a system, according to election officials around the state.
Secretary of State spokeswoman Nghia Nguyen Demovic said there's not a single instant runoff system in the state that's approved for use in California, not even in San Francisco. San Francisco's certification expired at the end of last year, she said.
Demovic said there's a three-tiered process for election machine vendors to get approval: getting federal approval, meeting stringent standards in the county where the machines will be used, and going through volume testing.
San Francisco Department of Elections Deputy Director Linda Tulett said she expects that the city's current vendor, Elections Systems and Software, will be recertified in time for the November election.
If it isn't, San Francisco will do a hand count because its charter now calls for ranked choice voting to be used for all elections, she said.
Tulett said she believes San Francisco is the only city in the state and one of only a few cities in the country to use ranked choice voting.
Berkeley voters approved an instant runoff voting measure in March 2004, but the system hasn't been implemented yet because the measure specified that such a system can only be used if it can be integrated with county elections and if it doesn't increase city election costs.
Acting City Clerk Sherry Kelly said instant runoff voting won't be used in 2006 and the earliest the city could use it would be in 2008.
She said one of the problems is that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters only recently hired a new vendor, Sequoia Systems of Oakland, and it will take the vendor some time to develop software that will be certified by the state so Berkeley and other cities in the county can use it for instant runoff voting.
"It takes a long time -- it's a two-year process,'' Kelly said.
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates had hoped that instant runoff voting would be in place for the November election, according to his spokesman, Cisco DeVries.
"It's very disappointing for us,'' he said.
