By Rob Dickinson

February 25, 2007 -- AB 1294, introduced on February 23 by Assemblymembers Gene Mullin (D-19) and Mark Leno (D-13), would allow all local jurisdictions (cities, counties, and districts) to use ranked voting systems to elect their representatives. The bill would allow these jurisdictions to use Instant Runoff Voting for single-winner elections or Choice Voting (a ranked voting system similar to IRV) for multiple-winner elections. It would also add to the state Elections Code the guidelines and procedures registrars and equipment vendors need to count and report ranked voting elections.

This bill is important in that most local jurisdictions are not able to use ranked voting systems under current law, and this bill would permit them to do so. Today only charter counties or charter cities can use IRV, but over three-fourths of cities and counties -- and nearly all districts -- are general law jurisdictions and don't have these options. Over half of Californians live in a general law city, a general law county, or both.

AB 1294 would give these jurisdictions these additional options, but would not mandate that any jurisdictions use these systems. In other words, it is simply permissive and gives local governments the tools they need to respond to the wishes of their voters.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) ensures that the winner of a single-winner election has the support of the majority of voters in a single election. By eliminating the need for a costly runoff election it saves local governments a lot of money -- about $2M per election in San Francisco alone. IRV also eliminates vote-splitting and spoiler effects, both of which undermine the public's confidence the political process. Finally, IRV helps promote positive, issue-based campaigns with less negative campaigning because candidates will seek 2nd and 3rd choice votes."

San Francisco has used Instant Runoff Voting extremely successfully for three consecutive elections, and all academic and survey research shows that the results have been excellent. San Francisco voters understood IRV extremely well, used it effectively, and overwhelmingly prefer it to the old two-round runoff system that they had used for decades. In fact, of voters expressing a preference, approximately 5 to 1 prefer the IRV system over their old system.

Given the momentum for ranked voting building around the country -- shown last November in Oakland, Davis, Minneapolis and Tacoma -- this bill comes at an excellent time.

Endorsements and letters of support should be addressed to:

Assemblyman Gene Mullin
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0019

Fax: (916) 319-2119

Talking points on AB 1294

• Cities and counties deserve the opportunity to use the electoral systems that best address their unique needs. Currently, only charter cities have this opportunity, and it should be extended to all local governments.
• Giving general law jurisdictions the right to improve their election procedures would open up valuable new opportunities for them to achieve more representative democracy and better government. Allowing local jurisdictions to demonstrate improvements to their electoral processes allows the whole state to benefit and see what works best.
• Our current voting systems suffer from a variety of deficits, including vote splitting effects, spoiler effect, and unequal representation. Spoiler and vote splitting effects can allow a candidate to be elected where the majority of people would prefer a different candidate. Our Winner-Take-All electoral systems ensure that a significant percentage of the population is denied representation, and this ultimately undermines the political system.
• The lack of uniform election code support for these improved electoral systems is a significant obstacle to cities and counties and other jurisdictions that want to use these systems, and AB 1294 addresses this need. In addition, City and County officials and/or local Registrars are not put in the difficult positions of having to make up such procedures themselves.
• IRV saves taxpayer money by eliminating the need for a separate runoff election.
• IRV reduces negative campaigning.

More Resources

The full text of AB 1294 is here. Also, please visit our download page.

Rob Dickinson is Executive Vice President of Californians for Electoral Reform.

Last revised March 23, 2007