Ballot measure campaigns in Davis, Cincinnati and Memphis need your financial support now! From now until November 4, we urge everyone to contribute to these organizations. IRV is also on the ballot in Telluride, Colorado, and a charter amendment in Albany (just across San Francisco Bay from us) has implications for IRV.

Home Rule for Davis - Yes on Measure N

Two years ago voters in Davis approved of choice voting 55% to 45%. Now they have an opportunity to adopt a city charter that would make it possible for them to adopt choice voting. Without a charter, ranked voting would have to be put on hold indefinitely.

Contributions should be mailed to:

Yes On Measure N
c/o Stephen Souza
2424 Rodin Place
Davis, CA 95618

IMPORTANT: Davis city campaign finance laws require that the campaign report the name, address, occupation and employer of all donors contributing $25 or more. This differs from state law.

To find out more about the Davis charter and choice voting in Davis, please visit

• Home Rule for Davis
• Davis Choice Voting

Measure Y in Albany

Measure Y in Albany, in Alameda County, amends the city charter to provide for the mayor to be directly elected by the voters instead of appointed by the city council from among its own members. It also requires that the mayor be elected by a majority voting procedure, either two-round runoff or IRV. Given that three other cities in Alameda County have already provided for IRV in their charters, and the county now has (finally!) IRV-capable voting machines, it seems obvious that the city would choose IRV to avoid expensive runoffs.

Measure Y is primarily about direct election of the mayor and only secondarily about IRV. Since neither Californians for Electoral Reform nor Marin Ranked Voting has a position on direct election of local executive offices, we have not formally endorsed this ballot measure.

Yes on Issue 8 in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, Ohio used choice voting from 1924 to 1957, one of 22 American cities to do so during this period. The repeal campaign succeeded in part by manipulating the racial fears of white voters. This fall, voters in Cincinnati have an opportunity to restore proportional representation in Cincinnati.

Financial support is urgently needed. Send checks and money orders to:

Better Ballot Cincinnati
830 Main Street, STE 900
Cincinnati, OH 45202

For more on choice voting in Cincinnati, visit:

• Better Ballot Cincinnati

Yes on 5 in Memphis

FairVote's Rob Richie reported on October 23:

The instant runoff voting campaign in Memphis is in its final 12 days -- exciting effort that would implement instant runoff voting in the second largest city in the southeastern United States.

There's some real opposition, but advocates are doing a great job. There's a television ad posted on the campaign site featuring a county commissioner and head of the local NAACP. See the link here.

If you want to help secure a big win, send a donation to

Better Ballot Memphis
1035 Perkins Terrace
Memphis TN 38117

And time is of the essence!

To find out more about IRV for Memphis, please visit

• Better Ballot Memphis

Yes on Question 202 in Telluride

The town of Telluride, Colorado will decide whether to use IRV in mayoral elections. So far there's no campaign website or fund raising appeal. For more see the writeup in the Telluride Daily Planet.

Last updated October 27, 2008