Pro-RP resolution by Southern California ADA

[New Democracy]

Dear list members - I forward to you this release from CV&D

Donald of New Democracy at http://www.mich.com/~donald
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 21:38:42 -0400

Fr:   Rob Richie, Executive Director
       Center for Voting and Democracy

Re:  Pro-PR resolution by Southern California ADA
        Working with the League of Women Voters

I'll get folks more information on the Voters' Choice Act, once
it's introduced (see earlier message today). But in the short
run, I wanted to share with you two important items:. a
pro-PR resolution passed by the executive committee
of  Southern California Americans for Democratic Action --
which I believe is the largest chapter of ADA -- and a short
article by California's Steve Chessin about raising PR
within the League of Women Voters. Kudos to Casey
Peters for his key role in the SC - ADA resolution.

1. Resolution passed 6-16-97 by Southern California
Americans for Democratic Action  on Proportional Representation

Whereas legislative elections in the United States of America
continue to be conducted under the antiquated single-member district
system; and

Whereas nearly every Congressional and state legislative district is
controlled by either the Democrats or the Republicans, making each
district essentially a one party system; and

Whereas use of the single-member district leads to preordained election
results, thereby diminishing voter turnout; and

Whereas at least one-third of votes cast in Congressional and
state legislative elections generally are cast for losing candidates,
and thus are "wasted votes"; and

Whereas people who vote for a losing candidate in single-member
districts are then "represented" by a politician against whom they have
voted; and

Whereas in multi-candidate races, a legislator can be elected to
represent all residents of the entire single-member district with less
than a majority of votes cast; and

Whereas the exorbitant cost of campaigning to win the most votes in a
single-member district has exacerbated the trend toward big money
dominating American elections; and

Whereas PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION allows nearly every voter’s ballot
to be counted toward actually electing a legislative representative,
thus promoting voter turnout; and

Whereas PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION allows each legislator to represent
a "natural constituency" rather than an arbitrarily drawn district,
thus cutting campaign costs; and

Whereas PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION has proven to assure a greater
voice for women and ethnic minorities in the halls of government, and
to abolish "safe district" protection of incumbent politicians, and to
virtually eliminate the phenomenon of the "wasted vote"; and

Whereas PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION is in widespread use in democracies
throughout the world;

Be it therefore resolved that Southern California Americans for
Democratic Action endorses the concept of PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
for conducting legislative elections; and

Be it further resolved that SCADA calls upon the 1997 National
Convention of Americans for Democratic Action to endorse the concept of
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION.
* * *
Here is Steve Chessin's article on "Working with the
League of Women Voters.

        Working with the League of Women Voters
Steve Chessin, Vice President of State and National Campaigns
Northern California Citizens for Proportional Representation
                June, 1997

If we are going to get PR adopted in this country in our lifetimes, we
will need to form coalitions with other "good government" groups.  One
of the most important of these groups is the League of Women Voters
(LWV).  They have proven their strength at the national level with the
passage of the Motor Voter Act (they were instrumental), and at the
(California) state level with the passage of Proposition 208 (campaign
finance reform).

The LWV is a bottom-up, grassroots organization.  Program decisions are
made at the local level, and passed up to the state and national
levels.  The LWV has a deliberately slow, deliberative process, with a
two-year planning cycle at each level.  This is its strength, and means
that working with the LWV has to be done patiently, and by many NCCPR
members in many local chapters.  Here are the recommended steps for
working with the LWV.

1. Join your local chapter.  (This also makes you a member of the state
and national LWV.)  The LWV is a good organization and deserves your
support.

2. Contact the chapter President.  Tell her(*) that you'd like to make
a presentation on PR at a local chapter meeting, to educate the chapter
on how the rest of the world votes and to see if there's interest in
forming a study group on PR.  She may want you to make a short
presentation to her or to the Board first.

(*)While some chapters do have male presidents, most are female; where
a third-person singular pronoun is necessary I will use the female gender.

3. In your presentation to the President or the Board, stress these
connections with the National "Making Democracy Work" (MDW) program:

- One of the five focus areas of MDW is increasing voter turnout.
  Point out that countries that use PR tend to have higher voter
  turnouts than countries that do not.  (See table 7.1 on page 141 of
  Douglas Amy's book Real Choices/New Voices.)

- Another focus area of MDW is enhancing diversity of representation.
  Point out that countries that use PR tend to have more women in their
  legislative bodies than countries that do not (that is, closer to the
  fifty per cent one would expect just based on percentage of the
  voting age population).  (There is a graph illustrating this
  available from NCCPR).

  Also point out that jurisdictions in the United States that use PR
  (there are still a few left) also tend to have legislative bodies
  that track their respective population's ethnic make-up more closely
  than jurisdictions that do not.  (A table showing this is also
  available from NCCPR.)

- Point out that Carrie Chapman Catt, the founder of the League of
  Women Voters, was a PR supporter, and that local LWVs were
  responsible for defending PR when it was widely used in this country
  in the first half of this century.  (National Municipal Review, 1947,
  page 288, also available from NCCPR.)

A handout suitable for a three-minute Board presentation (that's all the
time I was given!) is available from NCCPR.

4. In your presentation to the chapter, again stress connections to the
National "Making Democracy Work" program.  Point out higher turnout,
more representative legislative bodies, more women.  Point out less
negative campaigning, potential for reduced influence of money.
(A talk outline, complete with handouts, is available from NCCPR.
Allow 30 minutes for your talk, and 30 minutes for questions.)

Also circulate a signup sheet for people who want more information.
Note those who are interested in PR, get them more information, and see
if they are interested in getting the LWV to explore PR further.

5. Get involved with your local chapter's "national program planning
meetings", "state program planning meetings", and "local program
planning meetings".  (Ask your chapter President about them; your
chapter should have a national program planning meeting sometime
between November 1997 and February 1998.)  Push for a study of PR to be
considered at the national, state, or local level, as appropriate.
Be willing to chair the study.

That's all I have today.  More steps will be added as progress is made,
or as feedback is received.  Keep NCCPR posted as to your progress.

For the web-enabled, these web sites will have more information on the
LWV: The LWVUS web page:
        http://www.lwv.org/

Article on the LWV Making Democracy Work campaign:
        http://www.lwv.org/junejuly/mdw.html
(This link may disappear on or after October 1997.)