Instant Runoff Voting Gains Support at City Council

Instant Runoff Voting got a boost at the Los Angeles City Council Rules and Elections Committee meeting on June 13. The Los Angeles Greens endorse the use of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), which allows voters to rank candidates by order of preference and eliminates the need for expensive run-off elections.

At the meeting, Lynne Serpe of the New America Foundation gave a presentation about the benefits of IRV. Comments to the council from local organizations and the public were overwhelmingly supportive of IRV. Representatives from the African American Voter Registration Project, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Asian American Action Fund, Common Cause, FairVote, LA VoteFIRE, League of Women Voters, and the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project all spoke in favor of IRV. Several Greens also spoke to the committee in support of IRV.

To adopt IRV in Los Angeles, a majority of the City Council needs to vote to put an IRV charter amendment before the voters. Several Councilmembers have endorsed the change. Jose Huizar and Bill Rosendahl both spoke on behalf of IRV at the meeting, and Wendy Gruel sent a staffer who related the Councilmember's support for IRV.

The immediate result of the meeting is that City Clerk Frank Martinez is going to prepare a report on how to implement IRV and other electoral changes in Los Angeles. The report is planned for completion in December.

News coverage:

LA Daily News: Los Angeles may vote for change: Instant runoffs, new dates some proposals for combating low turnout

LA Daily Breeze: Instant runoff voting is worth a look

LA Times: Instant runoffs might be fix for voter fatigue

Next LA Greens Meeting - Wed. June 20

Join us on Wednesday for our monthly meeting. This month we'll be discussing prospects for Instant Runoff Voting in Los Angeles, an Impeachment HQ at the Peace Center, and plans for the summer. Plus, as always, refreshments and refreshing company!

The Los Angeles Greens meet the third Wednesday of every month at 7PM at The Peace Center, 8124 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Meetings are free (donations accepted) and open to the public. Children are welcome. Parking is available behind the building.

2006 Election Highlights

Fifty-nine Greens were on the ballot in California in November 2006, and 18 of them were victorious. Perhaps the largest victory was in Richmond, CA, where Gayle McLaughlin was elected Mayor. According to the GPCA press release, "McLaughlin, who first ran for public office in 2004 when she won a Richmond City Council position, defeated the incumbent mayor of Richmond, although McLaughlin was outspent by about 10-1...Richmond, a working class suburb of San Francisco with a population of about 104,000, becomes the biggest city in the U.S. where a Green is at the helm, and the first in California where a Green was directly elected as mayor."

As former presidential candidate David Cobb pointed out, Tuesday was also a good day for election reform. Instant Run-off Voting was passed in Oakland, CA. Davis, CA voted to adopt choice voting, the proportional voting version of IRV. California Democrat Debra Bowen, an advocate of IRV, was elected Secretary of State.

In California, four propositions endorsed by the Los Angeles Greens passed (1C, 1D, 1E, and 84), while two opposed by the Greens (1B and 83) also passed. Two ballot initiatives strongly supported by Greens failed, however. Prop 87, which would have taxed oil production in the state to fund alternative energy, and Prop 89, the campaign finance initiative, both failed by wide margins.

Nationally, Greens won at least 35 races. In Illinois, gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney received an impressive 11 percent of the vote. Joyce Robinson-Paul of the DC Statehood Green Party won 14% of the vote for "shadow" Senate. Colorado Green Tom Kelly received 21% of the vote in his race for Congress.

From the GPUS press release: "8.7 million voters across the U.S. voted for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and for impeachment resolutions on local and state ballots that were promoted or supported by Greens. Troop withdrawal initiatives won in all ten localities in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, and all 11 communities in Illinois, including Chicago. Of 139 cities and towns in Massachusetts voting on the troop withdrawal measures, only a handful voted nay on initiatives demanding that Congress and the White House end the war immediately. In California, San Francisco voters supported a local impeachment measure by 59.41%. In Berkeley, a similar resolution won the support of 68.56% of the electorate. Greens supported and led the initiative campaigns; in April, 24 of 32 communities voted in support of the 'Troops Home Now' resolutions that were promoted by Greens."

On the whole, Tuesday was a very good day for progressives, as Republicans lost their majority in both houses of Congress. But Greens and other progressives must continue to monitor the Congress and advocate for our values, including peace, universal healthcare, and environmental protection.