By Dave Heller

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Last night the Berkeley City Council, in an unanimous vote, passed a resolution to request the Board of Supervisors and the Registrar of Voters to make IRV happen in Berkeley in November 2006.

Eight to ten IRV enthusiasts showed up for the council meeting and, with the luck of the draw, we had 4 speakers on the topic. We displayed pro-IRV signs next to and behind the speaker which were broadcast to the city's cable network. Everyone spoke eloquently and positively about the need for IRV.

Councilmember Gordon Wosniak, a staunch detractor of IRV when we were attempting to put IRV on the ballot, pulled the resolution from the consent calendar early in the meeting and we had to wait until about 9:30 pm for the outcome.

His concern was that IRV in Berkeley should allow a full ranking of all candidates and write-ins and that Berkeley needed to decide on the "best form of IRV" and that some forms of IRV are not completely fair.

When the resolution came to a vote, all the councilmembers, including Wosniak, voted to pass.

Elaine Ginnold and the Board of Supervisors now have complete confirmation that Berkeley intends to use IRV for the 2006 election and hopefully, as negotiations for new voting equipment proceed, we will have IRV compatible equipment county wide in the very near future.

Dave Heller is Vice President for Chapters of Californians for Electoral Reform