In November, voters said yes to Measure L, an advisory vote that told the City Council that Davis voters are interested in the concept of choice voting or ranked voting.

Since then, choice voting has made scant appearance at the council level, mentioned now and again as something that really should have a firm date on the long-range City Council calendar.

But at a special meeting Thursday night, the council may have gotten the choice voting ball rolling by unanimously passing a resolution in support of Assembly Bill 1294, which would allow local jurisdictions to use the voting methods without charter city status.

The special meeting was called in anticipation of AB 1294's hearing, just hours before the next council meeting Tuesday.

For Davis, which is a general law city and subject to state guidelines for city governance, the passage of AB 1294 could get choice voting - sometimes called ranked voting or instant runoff voting - into Davis polling stations faster than using a lengthy charter discussion, public vote and implementation.

Jerry Adler, a former and former member of the city's Governance Task Force, which overwhelmingly recommended choice voting for Davis, said he was pleased with the thrust of the bill, but worried by its dense text.

Mayor Pro Tem Ruth Asmundson agreed.

�I'm in support of AB 1294, but not with this complexity of language,� she said.

The council agreed and passed a motion to ask for clarity from the bill. It also agreed to send a member or two to the Assembly Elections Committee hearing, scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Fifty-five percent of voters in the November election said they would be interested in choice voting, allowing voters to rank candidates by preference.

If the first candidate doesn't get enough votes, he or she is eliminated, and the second choice is counted, then the third, fourth and so on until each candidate has broad support. Voters can rank as many candidates as desired.

Davis elects its representatives under an at-large plurality system. Two or three seats are open in each Davis City Council election, and voters may cast that many votes. The candidates with the most votes win the open seats.

Councilman Lamar Heystek, who in May will travel with nonprofit FairVote to Scotland to observe a choice voting election, said the city is responsible for land-use planning and municipal finance decisions, and should be responsible for how it votes as well.

�I think this is another area where the city deserves purview, and I think the bill allows that purview,� he said.

- Reach Claire St. John at [email protected] or 747-8057.