yellow star Everyone deserves to be represented, not just the chance to be represented.

Boondocks by Aaron McGruder, 10/23/04

Let's set a model for America's elections here in Davis and in Yolo County.

News

Monday, October 25, 2004

CANADA - British Columbia's Citizen's Assembly on Electoral Reform overwhelmingly recommended (146 to 7) that British Columbia change from its First Past the Post District system (similar to what Davis uses) to Single Transferable Voting (aka Choice Voting).

Incredibly, the assembly is made up of 160 randomly selected citizens meeting for 10 months. British Columbia will vote on the change in a referendum on May 17, 2005. Check their web site for lots of info on choice voting!

# posted by Chris at 11:50:17 PDT

Choice Voting

Choice Voting is a nonpartisan way for voters to elect a city council that truly represents the people. It guarantees the highest level of voter representation by ensuring that nearly every voter will elect someone they support.

Choice Voting creates a city council that is always an accurate and proportional cross-section of the entire voting population. It works by letting voters rank the candidates in order of preference. The votes are tallied in a special way. Click here to see how.

Choice Voting empowers voters. It eliminates the spoiler effect. It also takes away incentives to vote strategically, or "bullet vote."

Davis Governance Task Force

In September 2004, the Davis City Council appointed a 9-member task force to study ways to "best represent the citizenry" and "ensure fair representation and equality of access" in government. This is exactly what Choice Voting is designed to do! The city council specifically asked the task force to study Choice Voting.

Task force meetings are open to the public. They meet twice per month from October 2004 to March 2004. You can attend a meeting to speak publicly in favor of choice voting, or simply write a letter to the task force. They will issue a formal recommendation in the spring.

Here are some related links:

Did you know?

Sacramento used Choice Voting in the early 1920's to elect its 9-member city council before the political establishment overturned it.

Ask an "Expert"

If you have questions about Choice Voting, here are some knowledgeable Davis citizens you can talk to:

Chris Jerdonek, jerdonek@math.ucdavis.edu, (530) 297-6947
Joseph Stewart, czar@ucdavis.edu, (530) 792-8265
Jonathan Leathers, jtleathers@hotmail.com, (909) 519-9596
Mike Siminitus, mvsiminitus@ucdavis.edu

UC Davis Links

Advocacy Organizations

Official Government Pages

Choice Voting Software