Community | April 06, 2011 | 14 comments

Ranked choice voting making a difference in the Bay Area | San Francisco Bay Area News - Crosscurrents from KALW

source: http://kalwnews.org/blogs/ericamu/2011/03/25/opinion-ranked-choice-voting-making-difference-...

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Kitten_of_D00M
In Oakland, Jean Quan's riveting victory to become the mayor has brought renewed attention to ranked choice voting (RCV). San Francisco has used this system, which allows voters to rank their top three candidates, in seven elections since 2004. Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro used it for the first time in 2010.

Quan became the first Asian American woman elected mayor of a major U.S. city by coming from behind to beat the favorite, former state Senate President Pro Tem and powerbroker Don Perata, even though he outspent her 4-1. Quan showed how to win with a new kind of politics that better comports with the diverse society we have become – she used coalition building and grassroots campaigning. She told people, "If I'm not your first choice, please make me your second or third choice." She also reached out to her opponents, Rebecca Kaplan especially, saying, "In case I don't win, I think Rebecca should be your second choice." As a result, Quan received three times more runoff votes from the supporters of Kaplan, who finished third, than did Perata. That gave Quan her victory.


VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF HOW RANKED CHOICE VOTING WORKS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqblOq8BmgM&feature=player_embedded
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14 comments // Ranked choice voting making a difference in the Bay Area | San Francisco Bay Area News - Crosscurrents from KALW

  • FoosMaster
    • +1
      FoosMaster  

    • Excellent article!!!

      This would be a GREAT system that would be Fair to All politicians not just the ones with Big Money backing the way it is now. Just need to get by the Republicans and Tea Party to get it put in place because I think they would all Fight against it with everything they can. Even some Democrats will fight against it but I feel that Most of them would be for it. There would also be a lot of corporate money advertising, LIES, against it with misinformation about how it actually works. I’m sure they will try scare tactics something like “a communist dictator could be elected!”.

      The better we can fight the Misinformation the better the chances will be for getting this passed. I would definitely like to see this in ALL elections but it will be a Long road to getting this passed. Are we up for the fight? I am!

    • 1 year ago
  • Kitten_of_D00M
    • +1
      Kitten_of_D00M  
    • Image

    • THANKS, EVERYBODY, FOR YOUR GREAT INPUT!

      Please get the word out about Ranked Choice Voting. Underneath the Vote Up/Vote Down buttons is the "share this" button- if you click on it you can email it to all the people who are following you. It's probably too late for RCV to be used in the 2012 elections, but we need to get this method established at the local level so that we can all have a chance to try it out and start pushing for it nationally. For more info, please check out FairVote: http://www.fairvote.org/

    • 1 year ago
  • NiceN
  • Milieu
    • +1
      Milieu  

    • Let's see, I have to list my favorites in order of least worse to worst................hmmm, seems to me we already do that.
      I vote for A because she/he is less worse than B.

      It's also a way the Republic Syndicate passed to have a chance at breaking into Democratic strongholds and splitting Democratic vote and putting Republic Syndicate Member in.

      Sorry, to my way of thinking the ONLY good Republic Syndicate member is one that's Out Of Office.

      Was put together by Guvinator with help from Rove, Darrell Issa, and David Dreier.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kitten_of_D00M
  • UtopianSky
    • +1
      UtopianSky  

    • It sounds good, but I don't understand it.

      Do all votes at all levels count the same, or do 1st picks count more than 2nd or 3rd?

      Let's say there are three candidates- A, B and C.

      1/3 of the population picked A as their first choice.
      2/3 of the population picked B as their first choice.
      everybody picked C as second choice, because the A people hate B, and the B people hate A.

      Who wins the election? B, who got the most 1st pick votes, or C, who got the most votes, but nobody really wanted him strongly?

    • 1 year ago
  • Kitten_of_D00M
    • +1
      Kitten_of_D00M  
    • UtopianSky:

      If 2/3 of the population picked B, the election is over and B wins in the first round, because a candidate needs a 51% majority to win. Let's say there are 30 people voting, so a majority is half plus one (16). We'll say we've got Rethugs, Baggers, Dems and Greens in the race. In the first round, Rethugs get 10 votes, Baggers get 3, Dems get 8 and Greens get 9. In regular voting, Rethugs would win, even though the conservative platform was altogether less popular than the progressive/liberal agenda. With ranked choice voting, the election isn't over without a true majority. We can assume the Baggers would have selected Rethugs as their second choice, so as they are eliminated, their votes go to the Rethugs, who now have a total of 13. The Dems expected to win, but the Greens nudged ahead, so the Dems are eliminated, and their votes go to the Greens, for a total of 17 - a majority win!

      The thing is, you never really know how much support a 3rd party actually has, because most people play it safe at the polls. With ranked choice, you get to put your conscience first, and your second choice as a safety net. In this way, we finally get to see how the people really want to shape American politics, and it forces the mainstream parties to take us seriously.

    • 1 year ago
  • kgMA
    • +2
      kgMA  

    • Sounds like a system that would produce better candidates in the long run. It also sounds like a system that would confuse many. To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer one simple voting system across the US, that could not be fixed or tampered with!

    • 1 year ago
  • Kitten_of_D00M
    • +1
      Kitten_of_D00M  
    • kgMA:

      Tampering and intimidation are totally out of control. We really need to step up prosecution of these tactics. I agree that it is confusing, and I've seen some thoroughly bewildering videos trying to explain the system, but conservatives are almost unanimously against it, so I'm all for it! Anything that works against the influence of stupid people has got to be good for America.

    • 1 year ago
  • kennymotown
  • Leen61
    • +3
      Leen61  

    • This is a great idea, Kitten. With the results of the Milwaukee County Executive election we witnessed something happen that was very similar to the philosophy inherent in this system without it even being in place in Milwaukee Co. In the primary election, Stone got almost twice as many votes as Abele, but the handful of other candidates clearly fell into a category closer to Abele's sensibility about running County government and all the backers of the also-rans fell in step with Abele, helped by the energized electorate courtesy of Scott Walker's agenda, Stone was blown away. This would work in most cities, I think.

    • 1 year ago
  • therealpixie
  • hammywill
    • +3
      hammywill  

    • LOVE IT! It highlights a better voting system, as well as the importance of voting LOCAL!! It may seem impossible to foment change at the national level, but there is NO excuse for political "business as usual" at the local level.

    • 1 year ago
  • Kitten_of_D00M
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