By Steven Hill

October 31, 2006--The campaign for Instant Runoff Voting in Oakland (known as Measure O) needs your URGENT help to buy radio ads to respond to negative attacks against Measure O coming from sleazy political consultants. Allow me to explain.

First, the good news: We have been making great strides towards winning on November 7, having secured most of the top endorsements in the city, and waging a vigorous voter contact/outreach campaign (see details below).

But here's the bad news: Suddenly Measure O is under attack by shady political consultants who are opposed to reforming our broken democracy. Theirs is an act of desperation, but that seems to be the theme for this political season.

What they have done is they have created a fake Democratic Party slate card and mailed it to thousands of Oakland voters saying vote NO on Measure O -- even though the Democratic Party has endorsed Measure O (the fake slate card also says vote No on Prop 89, the statewide measure for public financing of campaigns, even though the local Democratic Party has endorsed 89 and the state Dems are neutral). The fake slate card lists the originator as a shadowy independent expenditure committee called "Voter Information Guide" located in southern California. A Google and FPPC search reveals that this is one of those sleazy, for-profit, slate cards where they sell themselves to the highest bidder, and then pose as if it's coming from the Democratic Party. On the front side, which is in tri-color, are large letters saying "Voter Information Guide for Democrats." That is next to a fairly large photo of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and just above a photo of a bald eagle's head. It also says on the front side, "Evaluations and Recommendations by the Democratic Party." In fact, the San Diego Union Tribune did an article exposing this slate card, which during the June primary was mailed all over San Diego. If you're interested, you can read the article about that here.

WE MUST RESPOND TO THIS ATTACK. Oakland voters may see more hit pieces like this during the final week. So we are trying to raise money to counter this. Primarily that means buying radio ads, e-mail outreach lists, and possibly automated phone calls, since there is no time to design, print and mail another mail piece. Radio ads will begin tomorrow, featuring a well-known local officeholder plugging Measure O.

We have not even raised the money yet for these radio ads, but we are contracting for services anyway. We are going out on a limb because we just can't stand by and watch our victory snatched away. So we are going on faith -- our faith in YOU. We need your donation -- urgently -- today. We are hoping we can rely on you!

Be assured, we have had a vigorous campaign here. We already have raised $50,000 and spent that on targeted mail pieces to various selected pools of voters all over the city of Oakland. We also have bought newspaper ads, been doing precinct walking and phone banking. We really have an excellent chance of winning -- we have most of the biggest endorsements in Oakland -- if only we can prevent this kind of sleazy mudslinging from changing the momentum during this final seven days.

PLEASE DON'T DELAY -- MAKE AN ONLINE DONATION TODAY! Many of you have responded to my call before, and I hope you will again. This Nov. 7, we have an excellent chance of passing IRV not only in Oakland but also in Minneapolis, Pierce County (WA) and Davis (CA) where it is also on the ballot. That will go along with San Francisco, which is about to hold its third election using IRV, Burlington (VT) which elected its mayor using IRV, and other cities around the country that have passed it. This is a slowly growing national movement, and we all are a part of it.

So we can't let these sleazy political consultants snatch victory away from us during these final seven days. Whatever you can donate to help nail down this victory for IRV in Oakland will be greatly appreciated. We couldn't do this without people such as yourselves, all across the country. We are all on the same team, so let's bring this victory home on November 7.

Here's how to donate, either online or by sending a check (our preference would be that you donate online, since there are so few days left and we need the money or at least your pledge right away).

For online donations, visit this page and follow the instructions.

Or mail a check made out to "IRV for Oakland" to:

IRV for Oakland
P.O. Box 3730
Oakland, CA 94609

Friends, please help us make history in Oakland by securing this victory for Measure O. You can do that by making a donation immediately. And if you don't mind, please forward this e-mail to your own e-mail lists and encourage people to support this important campaign. Sorry in advance if you receive this email more than once.

Steven Hill is the author of Fixing Elections: The Failure of America's Winner Take All Politcs (2002) and 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy: An Owner's Manual for Concerned Citizens (2006).