The following article was received from the Humboldt Voters Association. See also "Instant runoff voting to be demonstrated in Eureka on June 6", Eureka Reporter, May 29, 2006.

May 25, 2005

Did you know that our elected officials can be, and often are, elected without a majority? Have you had enough of negative campaigning? Wouldn’t you like to see elected leaders in office who have the clear mandate of demonstrated majority support?

On election day, June 6th, the Humboldt Voters’ Association will hold an Instant Runoff Voting demonstration election. at the Municipal Auditorium, 1120 F Street in Eureka. The demonstration is meant to be a fun and educational introduction to ranked voting. Voters will be asked to fill out a ranked ballot (called a Single Transferable Vote) for the Fourth District supervisors race, which includes Bonnie Neely, Richard Marks, and Nancy Flemming. The results will be tabulated and published on the HVA website.

Instant-Runoff Voting is an easy way for voters to be explicitly clear about what they want in a future leader, without ever having to worry that their votes will be “wasted” on a likely loser or “spoil” an election. In IRV, voters are allowed to rank the candidates in order of preference, rather than forced to choose only one from a list.

In IRV elections, only candidates with a majority can win; negative campaigning is discouraged because candidates will appeal to their opponents’ supporters for second rankings; costly primary and run-off elections, which have notoriously low turnout rates, are unnecessary; and voters can leave the voting booth feeling they have truly spoken their peace, knowing that their values will be reflected in the final vote tally.

If you’re interested in helping out and/or learning more about IRV activism by volunteering for a couple hours at the table, write us at info@humvote.org.

If you’re eligible to vote in the Fourth District supervisors race and would like to vote in the demo election, feel free to drop by the Muni on election day to vote and learn more about Instant Runoff Voting.

If you have any other questions, feel free to write us at info@humvote.org.