[NV Greens] Fwd: NewsFlash: Advances for Fair Elections in Canada and North Carolina

Fri May 20 18:38:07 PDT 2005

>
>FairVote NewsFlash!
>
>
>
>  Canadian Referendum Demonstrates Sweeping Mandate for Choice Voting
>
>British Columbiaís Pioneering Citizens Assembly 
>Model Deserves Wide Imitation in the United 
>States
>
>On Tuesday, May 17, the Canadian province of 
>British Columbia held parliamentary elections 
>and a referendum on whether to replace its 
>antiquated, U.S.-style plurality voting system 
>with the choice voting method of proportional 
>voting. Choice voting, known in British Columbia 
>as ìthe single transferable vote,î or STV, is a 
>proportional system once used effectively in two 
>dozen cities in the United States, including New 
>York City and Cincinnati. It was picked for the 
>ballot last year by a citizens assembly process 
>that FairVote believes should be imitated widely 
>in the United States.
>
>With record voter turnout of more than 1.6 
>million, voters overwhelmingly supported 
>proportional voting. In order to be implemented, 
>however, the STV campaign needed the. support of 
>60% of voters. Although the reform initiative 
>fell just short, garnering an impressive 57.4% 
>of votersí support, it won a majority of the 
>votes cast in a remarkable 97% of the electoral 
>districts from all over the province, with broad 
>support in both rural and urban districts. This 
>near perfect sweep occurred even though the 
>reform initiative had limited resources and 
>faced opposition from the political status quo. 
>See the results (to be finalized May 30) at 
><http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/ge2005/refresults.htm>http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/ge2005/refresults.htm
>
>Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberal Party captured 
>a second-straight majority government, winning a 
>supermajority of 46 of the legislature's 79 
>seats up with only 46% of the vote. Yet Liberal 
>Party candidates won a majority in a paltry 
>two-dozen districts, far fewer than the 77 
>districts where choice voting earned majority 
>support. (In fact, no candidate won majority 
>support in nearly half of the districts.) Some 
>of the political establishment is pretending 
>choice voting was truly rejected, but other 
>political leaders from across the spectrum are 
>calling for the government to move forward in 
>implementing the clear will of the voters. Read 
>more about the calls for reform at 
><http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=56>http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=56
>
>Much of the campaignís success can be attributed 
>to the manner in which choice voting was chosen 
>as an issue for the May referendum. The British 
>Columbia government convened a Citizens Assembly 
>on Electoral Reform, composed of ordinary 
>citizens, to study how the province should best 
>translate votes into seats. After studying 
>numerous voting methods, the citizens 
>overwhelmingly came out in favor of a switch 
>away from the current winner-take-all system 
>towards the fairer way of electing 
>representatives embodied in choice voting. Read 
>more about the Citizens Assembly at 
><http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=515>http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=515Ý
>
>You can read a Sacramento Bee commentary by New 
>America Foundationís Steven Hill and Davd Lesher 
>calling for using similar processes in the 
>United States at:
><http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=200&articlemode=showspecific&showarticle=487>http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=200&articlemode=showspecific&showarticle=487
>
>
>For more on the rapidly growing campaign for 
>proportional voting in Canada, see:
><http://www.fairvotecanada.org/>http://www.fairvotecanada.org
>
>
>
> 
><http://www.makemyvotecount.org.uk/home.html>More 
>on the U.K. Parliamentary Elections Debacle
>
>
>The British election results from its May 2005 
>parliamentary elections also showcased the flaws 
>of winner-take-all elections. Led by Tony Blair, 
>Labour swept into a third term in office, a 
>hat-trick his party had never before been able 
>to achieve. But Labour garnered barely 35% of 
>the vote, only 3% more than the Conservatives, 
>yet gained 59 seats more than the other parties 
>who won a combined 65% of the vote. As a result 
>of these skewed and disproportionate results, 
>many political leaders and media figures, 
>including veteran Labour leaders, are renewing 
>calls for a proportional voting system. Read 
>about the U.K. elections at 
><http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=960>http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=960
>
>
>
>Instant Runoff Legislation Easily Passes North Carolina State House
>
>  North Carolina counties would use instant 
>runoff voting (IRV) in local elections in 
>2005-2006 in a pilot project introduced by Rep. 
>Paul Luebke. On May 18 the bill received 
>bipartisan approval in the North Carolina house 
>by a vote of 79-32. Under Rep. Luebkeís 
>proposal, the State Board of Elections would 
>work with up to ten counties interesting in 
>participating in the project.
>Much of the initiative for improving North 
>Carolinaís runoffs came from problems in the 
>stateís 2004 elections, which had only 3% voter 
>turnout in a statewide runoff that cost more 
>than $3 million of taxpayer funds. North 
>Carolina legislators recognized that IRV could 
>increase voter turnout, reduce the costs of 
>elections and ensure more broadly supported 
>winners. The bill now heads to the state senate. 
>Read more about the NC IRV bill (H. 1024), 
>including a factsheet produced with Democracy 
>North Carolina, at: 
><http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=983>http://www.fairvote.org/index.php?page=983
>
>Meanwhile North Carolina Senator Eleanor 
>Kinnaird has introduced legislation that would 
>implement IRV ballots for use by North 
>Carolinaís overseas and military voters. Like in 
>Louisiana and Arkansas, IRV ballots would allow 
>voters abroad to participate in runoff 
>elections, which traditionally leave very little 
>time for voters to mail ballots in time to be 
>counted in the U.S. Read more aboute Senator 
>Kinnairdís legislation at: 
><http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2005&BillID=S558>http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2005&BillID=S558
>
>
>New additions to FairVoteís Website
>
>
>Among other additions to the FairVote website, see:
>
>FairVote California: This spring FairVote has 
>pursued a special research and outreach 
>initiaive in California. See more at:
><http://www.fairvote.org/ca/>http://www.fairvote.org/ca/
>
>To be removed from the FairVote list, please 
>send an email to 
><mailto:address at fairvote.org>address at fairvote.org, 
>with the word ìunsubscribeî in the subject line.


-- 
Paul Etxeberri

"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow"   ---Chateaubriand
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