a victory and not (yet) a victory

An update on instant runoff voting and electoral reform in Maryland:

First, the bad news.  Sen. Paul Pinsky's bill, SB 233, to implement instant 
runoff voting for most federal and state elections in the state, did not pass 
out of the Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee (basically, we 
can only improve in future years).  Let's just say that this was an 
educational year and we will come back with renewed vigor and determination 
next year.  And more importantly, when the General Assembly is out of 
session, let's target key legislators, meet with them and prime them for 
reintroduction of the bill next year.  After all, it's rare when a bill gets 
much attention in its first year of introduction and these reforms take time 
to build.

For anyone who was writing their legislator about SB 233, please do not stop 
simply because the bill didn't pass out of committee.  Legislators still need 
to hear from us.

Second, the good news is that the recommendations of the Special Committee on 
Voting Systems and Elections Procedures in Maryland has become public. 

See: http://sos.state.md.us/ 

This was the committee chaired by Secretary of State John Willis, which was 
charged with recommending improvements to voting technology for the state.  
(It wasn't charged with voting SYSTEM reforms, but voting machines and the 
like...).  Nonetheless, one of the most important things for our cause is to 
ensure that new voting machines will be compatible with ranked choice ballots 
so instant runoff voting and forms of proportional representation will be 
possible in the future.  Without the capacity for voting machines to handle 
ranked ballots, we would be closed out of these reforms for years to come.

In the report, which I have looked at but not digested yet, they recommend 
voting machines that can be made compatible with ranked ballots with the 
proper software -- direct recording electronic machines for polling places 
and optical scanners for absentee voting.  We STILL need to ensure that if 
and when Maryland puts out a Request for Proposals (RFP) to voting machine 
vendors that the RFP requires the machines and software to handle ranked 
ballots without any future cost.  

The report does recognize instant runoff voting, when the committee wrote: "a 
major advantage of a Direct Recording Electronic voting system is its ability 
to handle specific needs of the voting population and be adaptable to future 
needs and expressions of the voters."  This includes a footnote referencing 
the Center for Voting and Democracy's and the Maryland Green Party's 
testimony about instant runoff voting.  The report explains how instant 
runoff voting works and correctly notes that it was used at one time in 
Maryland primary elections.  There may be more references to ranked voting 
systems, but I have not come across them as of yet.

Our job in the coming months will be to ensure that the RFP includes ranked 
choice voting software.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Eric
cvderic@aol.com
301-270-4616