June electoral reform news

Dan Johnson-Weinberger instantrunoff at yahoo.com
Wed, 27 Jun 2001 06:44:13 -0000

June news on electoral reform in the Midwest
Compiled by Dan Johnson-Weinberger, Director of the Midwest Democracy 
Center

This is the electronic newsletter of the Midwest Democracy Center. 
The Midwest Democracy Center is a non-profit, low budget advocacy 
group that works to make our government more democratic and 
representative. John B. Anderson is the Honorary Chair of the Center. 
Our main goal is to revive cumulative voting for the Illinois House 
of Representatives (used from 1870 ? 1980) so political minorities 
will have some representation. Another goal is to implement instant 
runoff voting for executive elections to end spoiler candidacies and 
to ensure the majority gets to pick the winner in statewide and local 
races. We also favor same-day voter registration with anti-fraud 
protections so more people can participate in elections. Our website 
is www.midwestdemocracy.org and our telephone number is 312.587.7060. 

If you don't want this newsletter, email MDCMonthly-
unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

In this issue:
Upcoming events (7/10 dinner; 7/4-7/8 at Taste of Chicago)
Intern report (looking for an internship? Join us at the Center)
Instant runoff voting update

CUMULATIVE VOTING FOR THE ILLINOIS HOUSE

Jim Edgar ? Abner Mikva report on cumulative voting coming out soon

After months of research and deliberation, the blue-ribbon, 
bipartisan Commission on Alternative Electoral Systems led by former 
Governor Jim Edgar and former White House counsel Abner Mikva will be 
releasing their report in the next two weeks. The commission studied 
whether the Illinois House of Representatives should use cumulative 
voting in three-member districts (so the political minority in each 
part of the state will be represented) or should stick with the 
winner-take-all system we have used since 1980 where only one person 
is elected from a district and `represents' the people who voted 
against him. Dozens of prominent state leaders gathered to consider 
this issue, and the report's findings should provide a huge boost to 
the drive to revive cumulative voting. The Center will make copies of 
the report available as soon as we have them; please contact the 
Center if you'd like a copy. For more information, see 
www.igpa.uiuc.edu

We're working to build support for state legislation that would put 
cumulative voting on the November 2002 ballot. The legislation is 
HJRCA 4 (and we'll be thanking all the state representatives that 
have co-sponsored the bill July 10th in Chicago, see below). We are 
hoping to get the bill voted out of the House Executive Committee 
this fall during veto session. See www.prairienet.org/icpr for 
details.

City councils should also use cumulative voting, just as Peoria IL 
does. There is an Illinois state law that allows citizens to put a 
referendum on the city ballot calling for cumulative voting ("the 
minority representation plan") in three-member districts for city 
councils. We hope to work with people all over the state that would 
like to put cumulative voting on the city ballot. The citation (for 
all the lawyers on the list) is 65 ILCS 5/3.1-15-30. Call the Center 
if you're interested in cumulative voting for your town.

INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING UPDATE

Legislation to use instant runoff voting has been introduced in 12 
states, including Minnesota. We are still hoping to get legislation 
in Illinois and Wisconsin. The city of Eugene Oregon voted to put 
instant runoff voting for local elections on the September 2001 
ballot. The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors 
unanimously voted to put IRV on the March 2002 city ballot; the full 
Board of Supervisors will decide in July whether city voters will 
have the chance to implement instant runoff voting. A petition drive 
in Minneapolis for IRV is underway. See www.instantrunoff.com for 
more details.

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 10th dinner in Chicago for cumulative voting

You are invited to a casual dinner to thank our state representatives 
who have supported cumulative voting. The dinner is Tuesday July 10th 
from 5 pm to 7 pm. It is at Leona's restaurant in Chicago, just north 
of the Loop, at 646 North Franklin. RSVPs are appreciated, but not 
necessary. Call the Center at 312.587.7060. Meet other advocates of 
cumulative voting and the staff at the Center (mostly volunteer) that 
are working to improve our democracy. There is no charge for 
attending the dinner; everyone will pay for their own meal. Dress is 
casual. 

Instant runoff voting at Taste of Chicago July 4 through 8.

The Center's crew will be out in force during the latter part of 
Taste of Chicago, holding a mock election to choose the greatest 
American president of all time. Like any election with lots of 
candidates, we should use instant runoff voting, to make sure the 
winners has the broadest support possible. We can use help conducting 
the election at the Taste! If interested, please call the Center at 
312.587.7060 or email at djw@fairvote.org ? you can volunteer for as 
little as an hour by holding a clipboard with the paper ballots and 
asking people if they'd like to vote. We'll be out during the early 
afternoon and the dinner hour. We'll congregate at the north end of 
the Taste ? call 312.933.4890 the day of for last-minute details and 
schedules.

Pro-democracy convention in Philadelphia this weekend

We'll be sending a car to Philadelphia Thursday night to join up with 
the national Pro-Democracy Convention. See www.pro-democracy.com for 
details. Organizers are expecting hundreds of people to gather for 
workshops and organizing on a Voters Bill of Rights 
(www.votersbillofrights.org) including instant runoff voting and 
proportional representation. If you'd like to join us, feel free to 
come along ? and if you know anyone on the East Coast who might want 
to attend, send them this newsletter. Finally, we'll be meeting at 
the Midwest Democracy Center Thursday night at 7:30 pm to depart for 
Philadelphia at 9 pm, so even if you can't make the trip, feel free 
to come to the Center Thursday night.

PAST EVENTS REPORT

The Center participated in the Printers' Row Book Fair, selling books 
on electoral reform and holding an instant runoff voting election on 
the greatest president of all time, collecting over 400 votes in two 
days of very cold weather. Lincoln won, but did not earn a majority 
until every other candidate was eliminated. We also had a spot in the 
Pride Parade last Sunday, with an estimated crowd of over 350,000. 
For a picture of our contingent (thanks to Outreach Director Matt 
Galloway for leading the charge) see 
http://pages.prodigy.net/rjmatter/ccm/pride01/pride01.jpg

INTERN REPORT (JOIN US)

The Center is always looking for interns who can devote some time to 
improving our democracy. Here is a quick run-down of what some of our 
interns are doing.
*Hannah Podlevsky, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, 
Chicago, is delving into Chicago Heights, the southern suburb where a 
federal judge imposed cumulative voting in seven-member districts for 
the city council after a 9-year lawsuit filed under the Voting Rights 
Act. That decision was overturned on appeal, and now Chicago Heights 
is trying to find a way to fairly represent the racial and political 
diversity of the city. Hannah is writing a long narrative of the 
history of the litigation (a fascinating story) and how cumulative 
voting is a race-neutral solution to the persistent problem of fair 
representation.
*Kate Goshorn, a recent graduate of DePaul University, is working to 
spread the message of electoral reform to her home state of Indiana, 
drawing on the Illinois experience of cumulative voting as a model 
for the Indiana legislature. 
*Ranjit Bhagwat, an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, 
Urbana, is concentrating on outreach to Asian-Americans in the 
Chicago region. There has never been an Asian-American state 
representative, state senator or even a city alderman in Illinois 
(with the exception of a few very small suburbs) even though Asian-
Americans are often 20 or 30 percent of the population of some cities 
and neighborhoods. Ranjit is working to show Asian-Americans that 
with a better voting system that elects political minorities as well 
as political majorities, they can elect one of their own for the 
first time in the history of Illinois. 
*Erin Spitzer, an undergraduate at Michigan State University, is 
organizing in her state of Wisconsin. She is particularly interested 
in her hometown of Kenosha, and as they use runoff elections for 
local races, Kenosha is a prime target for instant runoff voting to 
save the expense of a separate election.

WISH LIST

With several interns working with the Center, we are now officially 
in a computer crunch. A decent Windows based computer with an 
Ethernet connection would be very valuable. We also would like the 
chance to speak to your group. If you can gather ten people in a room 
to consider how to improve our democracy, we'd like to come out and 
speak to you. Let us know if you can help us with a computer so our 
interns can work effectively this summer or can help set up a 
speaking engagement with a group. 

The other wish list item is that you continue to lobby your 
representatives to improve our democracy. Remember, it's their job to 
listen to you. 

Finally, become a dues-paying member of the Midwest Democracy Center. 
We are funded by small investments of $10, $20 and $50 (and a few 
larger investments) by people that want to see real electoral reform, 
and recognize that the volunteers at the Center are actually building 
the consensus for better voting systems. Members receive our postal 
newsletter edited by Kevin O'Malley and the chance to vote for the 
Board of Directors (the election will be in July). None of the 
Center's funds go to pay staff so your $20 goes a very long way. You 
can donate online at www.midwestdemocracy.org with our paypal account 
or by sending a check to the Midwest Democracy Center. Thanks for 
your interest and support.