[EM] A proposition to end apathy, if anyone cares

[Donald Davison]

Hi California citizens,

The instructions that came with this article stated that I was to forward
it to California people, so be it.

I forward it to you, people who live in California, the land of fruits and
nuts.

My duty is done. Ha Ha

Donald


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  ----------- Forwarded Letter -------------
   A great article on IRV in San Francisco
   (forward to California people you know)
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The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/02/14/MN174014.DTL
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Thursday, February 14, 2002 (SF Chronicle)
A proposition to end apathy, if anyone cares
Laurel Wellman


   As we totter toward the end of the cold and flu season, clutching our
tissues and echinacea, we find ourselves caught off-guard by the change in
seasons. Suddenly, the cherry trees are blossoming, the lawns are revealed
as being full of oxalis, and people have opinions about the judging of the
men's long program. Yes, it's spring, and in San Francisco, we all know
what that means: time for another civic election.
   A little disclaimer here, in the interest of full disclosure: I'm behind
Proposition P, the ballot measure to establish a city prom committee.
You've probably seen our campaign signs on light standards around town.
I've found a few political clubs to endorse our views on the whole band
vs. DJ issue, and I'll be participating in the roundtable discussion on
retro-fashion-related party themes after "City Desk News Hour" next week.
   Of course, what with the usual alphabet soup of ballot propositions and
people with vaguely familiar names running for this or that public office,
my involvement would probably have passed completely unnoticed, but I
don't think we can afford to overlook this important issue much longer:
Many people have lived here their whole lives and never once seen the
inside of a hotel ballroom decorated by Stanlee Gatti. If there ever was a
city crying out for a prom committee, that city is San Francisco. Thank
you. The preceding was a paid political announcement.
   Fortunately, my busy campaign schedule recently allowed for a few minutes
to sit down with Caleb Kleppner and Steven Hill of the Center for Voting
and Democracy. That's the organization behind Proposition A, the ballot
measure that would introduce instant runoff voting -- IRV, if you're an
acronym geek.
   There are several reasons why Prop. A makes sense, and I'll get to more of
them in a minute, but for now let's talk about voter participation.
   "If we keep doing the same thing, I think apathy and cynicism will
continue to grow," said Kleppner. "That's not good for a community, or for
a country."
   Apathy? Cynicism? In San Francisco? What a suggestion! OK, only 15 percent
of registered voters turned out for the city attorney runoff in December
-- a runoff that cost taxpayers about $1.6 million -- but still, it's hard
to believe reality could be at such variance with our civic mythos. I
mean, next we'll find out most artists can't afford to live here anymore,
or something.
   Another reason Prop. A is a good idea is that we'd save money by not
having December runoffs, but I've just covered that, so let's move briskly
along to our final exhibit: the system itself.
   Instant runoff voting requires voters to rank candidates in order of
preference. If no candidate has a clear majority of first-place votes, his
or her second -- or even third-place votes are counted toward a victory.
The downside here, of course is that IRV makes those entertaining negative
campaign ads much less effective -- since if a candidate egregiously
offends another candidate's supporters, he or she won't get that other
candidate's second-place votes. "If you're just bashing people, it won't
help you much," says Hill.
   Of course, we could also reduce negativity by retiring particularly
contentious ballot measure letters, much the way sports teams retire the
jersey numbers of star athletes. Take the MUD propositions from the last
election: Speaking as a lay psychologist, I worry that, next time around,
the very mention of "F" and "I" will raise long-buried resentments in the
significant proportion of San Franciscans who suffer from long-buried
resentments.
   Meanwhile, though, we have Prop. A, whose opponents charge IRV would
confuse San Franciscans. Hill insists this is nonsense: "There's no
evidence that this is too complicated for voters." In fact, he says, IRV
has been used in Ireland and Australia for years, and was the system used
in Bosnia's first post-conflict elections; Alaskans will vote on a
statewide IRV system later this year. The main reason IRV hasn't been
tried here is that we didn't have voting equipment that could handle it,
"and nobody wants to go back to counting ballots by hand."
   Prop. A is innovative, sure, but since San Franciscans have demonstrated a
willingness to put up with a little innovation, it will be interesting to
see how many of us turn out to vote on the measure. "I'm guessing 37
percent," says Hill. "That's my official prediction."

   Laurel Wellman's column appears Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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Copyright 2002 SF Chronicle