CVD Fall Conferences (FWD)
DEMOREP1 at aol.com
DEMOREP1 at aol.com
Sun Jul 12 17:42:49 PDT 1998
Subj: Key List Update, 7/12 - Fall Conferences
Date: Sun, Jul 12, 1998 6:25 AM EDT
From: FairVote at compuserve.com
X-From: FairVote at compuserve.com (Rob Richie)
7/12/98
To: CVD Key List Update
From: Rob Richie, Center for Voting and Democracy
Re: Fall Conferences! Attend and Participate
There is important news to report at more length,
but it will need to wait for those of you who do
not receive the Center's postal newsletter -- many
of you should receive the newsletter this week.
I wanted to devote this update to the fact that our
two fall conferences are coming together extremely
well. Below is a text version of flyers on our "Empowering
the Voter" Conferences in San Francisco (Sept. 12-13)
and Minneapolis (Nov. 13-15).
Note the array of speakers commited to appearing in
San Francisco -- others are likely to join this list
shortly, and you soon should be able to keep up-to-date
on our confererences and other developments on our
web site (http://www.fairvote.org).
If you could imagine helping us by serving on a panel --
particularly in Minneapolis -- please let me and/or the
lead conference organizer for each conference (see
below) know as soon as possible. I'm sure we can find
a place for you.
And for those of you interested in attending, please
consider filling out the form at the end of this update
and mailing it to us -- or filling out the form you may
soon receive with your newsletter (if you do not receive
the newsletter within a week, assume that you will
not be receiving a conference reply form).
Before getting to the update, here are two quick items relating
to the last "core list" update sent on July 2nd. The update
focused on "transferable ballots", with good information
on the successful use of choice voting (single transferable
vote) in Northern Ireland's recent elections and the rise
of interest in "instant runoff voting" in the United States.
Please note the following:
* Both choice voting and instant runoff involve transferable
ballots, but "IRV" is for one-winner elections -- meaning that
it is not a proportional voting system. Choice voting indeed
is a proportional system -- with its proportionality increasing
in relation to the number of seats being electted in a particular
constituency. In Northern Ireland's 6-seat constituencies, it took
about 14% of votes to win a seat. In Cambridge's 9-seat city
council, it takes about 10% of votes to win a seat.
* I stressed the point that these transferable ballot systems
are not "all or nothing" systems. One reader commented that
this term seemed little different from "winner-take-all." For me,
the difference is from the perspective of the voter. With a
transferable ballot system, a voter can express a potentially
meaningful preference on very single candidate without
hurting the electoral chances of a higher-choice candidate.
A candidate certainly is either going to win or not, and thus
indeed is in an "all or nothing" situation in either kind of
system. But the experience of a transferable ballot system
for an individual voter is different than it is in non-transferable
ballot systems; for them, it is NOT "all-or-nothing."
Onto the conference information!
***
The Center for Voting and Democracy
invites you to attend
Empowering the Voter
Proportional Representation, Reapportionment & Reform
WHERE: San Francisco, California
WHEN: September 12-13, 1998
COST: $30 for full weekend / $20 for day (w/lunch)
[After 9/1/98: $40 and $25 respectively /
Scholarships for low-income]
"We aim to go beyond discussing problems and solutions. We
will develop a plan of action to do something about our unfair
voting system and to bring about truly representative
democracy." - John Anderson, CVD President
The Center for Voting and Democracy's national conference
will bring together electoral reformers, voting rights scholars,
minor party activists, students, academics and concerned
citizens. The conference seeks to assist attenders: learn about
proportional representation and other voting systems; examine
shortcomings of current electoral practices (particularly
redistricting); and strategize on local and regional campaigns
for reform.
Plenary Sessions
* Keynote Address: Empowering the Voter
* Race, Reapportionment and Representation
* 2020 Vision: Real Democracy and How to Get There
Saturday: Educational Workshops / Panels
* ABC's of voting system reform
* PR and campaign finance: Complementary reforms?
* Representation of women
* PR around the world
* How do you count those transferable ballots, anyway?
* Steps toward PR: IRV and three-seat districts
* Hitler, coalitions and complexity: PR and policy
* Voting rights and representation of minorities
* The courts and reform
* Voter participation: Obstacles and milestones
* Media talk about democracy reform
* Why California cities are looking at PR
* Funding, foundations and political reform
Sunday: Activist Workshops and Panels
* Speakers training
* Organizing state and local chapters
* How to do Monopoly Politics research for your state
* Campaigns for voting system reform
* Educational partnerships with established organizations
* How minor parties can advance reform
* Electing officers to your organization with PR
Partial List of Speakers and Panelists
John Anderson, CVD President
Janet Anderson, Washington State Citizens for PR
Joaquin Avila, Civil Rights Attorney
John Bonifaz, National Voting Rights Institute
Jerry Brown*, Mayor-Elect of Oakland
Bruce Cain, U. California - Berkeley
Peter Camejo, Progressive Asset Management
Steve Cheifetz, Stewart Mott Charitable Trust
Steve Cobble, Arca Foundation executive director
Matthew Cossolotto, CVD Vice-President
Gwenn Craig, SF Electoral Reform Task Force
Derek Cressman, USPIRG Democracy Coordinator
Rich Deleon, San Francisco State University
Sol Erdman, Democracy 2000 president
Mike Feinstein, Santa Monica City Council
Tabitha Hall, New Mexicans for Instant Runoff Voting
Dan Hamburg, VOTE Action executive director
Steven Hill, CVD west coast director
Denise Hulett, MALDEF-San Francisco
Dan Johnson-Weinberger, Illinois Citizens for PR
Sheila Jordan, former Oakland city councilor
David Kallick, Preamble Center
Kay Lawson, SFSU Political Science Department
Craig MacDonald, Texans for Public Justice
Carol Miller, New Mexico Green Party
Michael Moore*, Filmmaker
Molly Munger, The Advancement Project
Nancy Northup, Brennan Center for Justice
Doug Phelps, Chair of US PIRG
Zach Polett, ACORN political director
William Redpath, Libertarian Party ballot access chair
Rob Richie, CV&D executive director
Susan Richardson, Austin American-Statesman editorial Connie
Rice, The Advancement Project (Los Angeles)
Wilma Rule, U. Nevada - Reno
Mark Rush, Washington and Lee University
Mark Schmitt, Open Society Institute fellow
Keith Simmonds, Florida A. & M.
Kathy Spillar, Feminist Majority Foundation
Bonnie Tang, Asian Pacific American Legal Services
Roy Ulrich, Common Cause of California
Julian West, Reform Party of Canada
(* acceptance pending)
For more information, contact Steven Hill, CVD west
coast director(415-665-5044, shill at fairvote.org) or
see: www.fairvote.org
* * *
The Center for Voting and Democracy and FairVote Minnesota
announce
Empowering the Voter, Part II
A Conference about Fairer Elections in the Midwest
WHERE: Minneapolis Minnesota (Humphrey Institute)
WHEN: November 13-15, 1998
"The Midwest offers exciting short-term opportunities
for voting system reform. This conference comes at a very
opportune time." - Rob Richie, CVD Director
Problems and Reforms: Plenty of Both
Citizens are tuning out politics. Campaigns avoid
important issues. Media cover elections like horse races. Real
choices are limited and most outcomes are a foregone
conclusion, often skewed in favor of one party, race or gender.
Elected "representatives" are too often unresponsive and
unaccountable. As a result, citizens see little point in paying
attention to public issues and, more often than not, become
non-voters.
Many reform efforts have been attempted, yet voter
turnout continues its plunge. These reforms include attempts to
instill civic virtues in citizens, improve accountability by
reforming the campaign finance system, limit the advantages of
incumbency and allow greater competitiveness by limiting the
number of terms an elected official may serve, provide for
minority representation through majority-minority districting
arrangements, and other access-enhancing reforms.
Not enough has been done to search for common
ground among these reform efforts -- both nationally and in the
states of the midwest. There also is a need to address the
engine of our democracy -- the voting system -- to see if
winner-take-all elections should be replaced with proportional
representation. Our challenge for the new century is to build a
pro-democracy movement that will improve ordinary people's
lives.
Building a Reform Movement
The general public, election reformers and academics
from around the upper midwest and the nation will gather to
address the question, "How can we create a more democratic
election system?" The desired outcome is greater connection
among various reform efforts and steps toward creating a
broad-based reform agenda and movement. Participants will
come away with greater understanding of the issues and how
they can become part of the reform movement.
We will have the participation of leading reformers,
thinkers and political leaders. Some are working aggressively to
change the system from the outside; others from the inside.
Highlights include a hearing conducted by 1980 presidential
candidate John Anderson on redistricting as part of a national
series of similar redistricting hearings.
Session Topics
* Improving quality of campaigns and voter participation
* Better representation for women and minorities
* Minor party access to the political process
* Increasing accountability through campaign reform
* Lessons from campaigns in Cincinnati and San Francisco
* Canada: Case study of need for election reform
* The movement to restore cumulative noting in Illinois
* Legal action for reform in voting rights and redistricting
* Building a pro-democracy reform agenda and movement
* A strategic outlook for election reform through 2020
* Introducing election alternatives in NGO's
* Nuts & bolts of conducting a winning reform campaign
* Analyzing election results in your city & state/province
* Implementing PR: Hardware, software and systems
* Writing & speaking about election system reform
* Media relations: How to do Better PR for PR
Speakers and Panelists (partial list)
Douglas Amy: author of Real Choices, New Voices
John Anderson: CVD President and former Congressman
Kathleen Barber*: author of Proportional Rep. in Ohio
John Gilligan*: former governor of Ohio
Hendrik Hertzberg*: New Yorker magazine editor
David Kallick: Preamble Center
Arthur Kinoy: Center for Constitutional Rights
Abner Mikva*: former federal judge and Congressman
Steven Mulory: Department of Justice
Tim Penny*: former Member of Congress
Eleanor Smeal*: Feminist Majority Foundation
Sam Smith: author of The Great American Repair Manual
Edward Still: Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
Russ Verney*: Chair of the Reform Party
Pat Williams*: former Member of Congress
(* acceptance pending)
Registration
To register for conference, please use the enclosed reply card
and envelope. Registration fees are $40 ($25 students, low-
income and seniors) before November 1.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
For more information, contact:
Tony Solgard, FairVote Minnesota
Address: PO Box 19440, Minneapolis MN 55419
Phone: 612-724-5540 E-mail: <solga002 at tc.umn.edu>
REPLY FORM - Empowering the Voter Conferences
Name:
Address
Phone: E-mail:
I AM REGISTERING FOR:
___ San Francisco Conference
___ Weekend ($30) ___ Sat. ($20)
___ Sun. ($20) [lunch included]
___ Minneapolis Conference
___ Weekend ($40) ___ Sat. ($25)
___ Sun. ($25) [lunch included]
HOUSING: ____ I would like information about hotels and
other housing options
Make checks out to Center for Voting & Democracy (CVD) and
mail to:
CVD
PO Box 60037
Washington, DC 20039
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