VOICE FOR DEMOCRACY
Newsletter of Californians for Electoral Reform
Summer 2010

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This issue of "Voice for Democracy" is also available in HTML format at

http://www.cfer.org/newsletter/vfd2010q3

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

President's Letter
News from FairVote
CfER Gains New Visibility in Campaign Against Proposition 14
Partying is Good for You: Social Consequences of Multi-Party Democracy
Representative Democracy, Version 2.0
Important Note to Members of Our Yahoo Groups Lists
Join CfER or Renew Your Membership Now
About CfER
Local Chapters and Contacts
Support Our Work
Voice for Democracy

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

By Steve Chessin

Our newsletter editor informs me I only have 500 words to inform you
about our Annual General Meeting in May, so I had better get right to
it!

Our keynote speaker took ill and was unable to make the meeting, so
instead we had an extended discussion about Proposition 14 and the
efforts to defeat it. (Unfortunately, it passed. We expect lawsuits
against it and if they fail we expect other activity to preserve the
ballot status of minor parties.)

We also had an extended discussion on our legislation, AB 308, that
would allow military and overseas voters participating in a two-round
runoff election to indicate their runoff choice at the same time as
their first elec­tion choice by using a ranked ballot. (Unfortunately,
that bill number was hijacked for another purpose on June 9, but we
expect our bill to be reintroduced next year.)

The Wilma Rule Memorial Award was given to Steven Hill in recognition of
his work contributing to the advancement of proportional representation
in California for consistently advocating proportional representation in
his books, his speaking engagements, and his interactions with elected
officials, election officials, voting system vendors, non-governmental
organizations, and the general public. Unfortunately (I'm using that
word a lot in this letter, aren't I?), Steven could not be present to
accept the award, as he was on his way to Washington, DC, to speak about
his new book, Europe's Promise: Why the European Way is the Best Hope in
an Insecure Age (see below for a sample). Now that he's back in town,
I'll arrange to get it to him. [Editor's note: There will be more on
the Wilma Rule Memorial Award in our next newsletter.]

Finally, we elected our Board of Directors. Elected, in alphabetical
order, were: Steve Chessin, Dave Kadlecek, Paula Lee, Pete Martineau,
Joe Nemec, Casey Peters, Bob Richard, Christina Tobin, and Richard
Winger. We thank out-going board members Chuck O'Neil, Gabrielle Weeks,
and Cat Woods for their service.

Our first item of business for the upcoming year is ensuring the success
of the IRV elections in Oakland, Berkeley, and San Leandro this
November. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters wants to have an IRV
expert in every polling place, and we hope CfER members from all over
will volunteer to help. According to California law, any registered
voter in California can help at any polling place. Right now the
Alameda County registrar thinks he can only hire poll workers who also
live in Alameda County, but we're insisting that he check the laws on
that, as other counties routinely employ out-of-county poll workers.

[Steve Chessin has served as President of CfER since 2001 and was Co-
President from 1999-2001.]

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NEWS FROM FAIRVOTE

By Rob Richie

FairVote and its allies are working to change American electoral rules
so that our political system can breathe with the fresh air of multi-
party, multi-candidate politics. We’re finding fertile ground in more
states and cities across the country -- places where at least one major
party has decided that accommodating voter choice is better than
fighting it.

Fairvote's (www.fairvote.org) Rob Richie reviews recent reform progress
here:

http://www.cfer.org/newsletter/vfd2010q3/fairvote.php

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CFER GAINS NEW VISIBILITY IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST PROPOSITION 14

By Richard Winger

CfER was one of the first organizations to oppose Proposition 14. As a
result, when the state ballot pamphlet was prepared early in 2010, CfER
was one five organizations which signed either the argument against the
measure or the rebuttal to argument for it.

Because CfER was listed in the voter pamphlet, reporters seeking to
better understand the measure contacted us. This was especially true
because the other organizations who opposed the measure tended not to
have any special expertise on the matter.

In this article, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News
(www.ballot-access.org) concludes, "It is probably safe to say that
CfER is now better known in California than it has ever been before."
Read it here:

http://www.cfer.org/newsletter/vfd2010q3/prop14.php

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PARTYING IS GOOD FOR YOU
THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF MULTI-PARTY DEMOCRACY

By Michael Latner

We have witnessed a consistent decline in political support for the
dominant political parties and political leadership nationwide over the
last 40 years. The good news, if you can call it that, is that we are
not alone: political support is declining in many of the world’s older
democracies, for reasons that are not directly related to political
parties. The bad news is that our particular two party system
exacerbates tensions between citizens and government.

We can, and should, do better for our citizens. One alternative is to
allow more political parties to compete for leadership. Multi-party
systems outperform two party systems on a number of indicators commonly
used to measure the quality of democracy.

Political scientist Michael Latner explains the superiority of multi-
party systems in this article:

http://www.cfer.org/newsletter/vfd2010q3/partying.php

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REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, VERSION 2.0

Drawing on material in his new book, "Europe's Promise", Steven Hill --
the latest winner of CfER's Wilma Rule Award -- writes:

"I recall the first time I visited the German Bundestag. What was even
more memorable than the parliamentary building itself was the
legislative chamber. When you visit the chamber of the U.S. House of
Representatives, left and right are plain to see -- Democrats on one
side, Republicans on the other -- with an aisle, a dividing line, down
the middle, adversaries forever battering each other. With only two
viable electoral choices, the free marketplace has spread everywhere
except to our politics.

"But in Germany's Bundestag, I observed five aisles and sections, a
different one for each political party. I had always known that Germany
is a multi-iparty democracy rather than a two-party democracy, but
seeing a visual display of that was a thrill ..."

Read more here:

http://www.cfer.org/newsletter/vfd2010q3/version2.php

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IMPORTANT NOTE TO MEMBERS OF OUR YAHOO GROUPS LISTS:

If you are on both InstantRunoffCA and InstantRunoffCA-news, you don't
need to be. The news list is for this newsletter and other important
announcements. Everything posted to it is also posted to
InstantRunoffCA, which is for both news and discussion. You can avoid
receiving duplicate posts by subscribing to one or the other, but not
both.

If you belong to CfER, you have already received the newsletter in a
more convenient format and you can safely delete this email. If you are
not a member, please join us at

http://www.cfer.org/join

after reading this free version of our newsletter.

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JOIN CFER OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW

Help us grow! Download, print, and distribute the membership form here:

http://www.cfer.org/join/JoinCfer.pdf

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ABOUT CFER

Californians for Electoral Reform (CfER) is a statewide citizens' group
promoting election reforms that ensure that our government fairly
represents the voters. We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
with members from across the political spectrum. Since our founding in
May of 1993, our numbers have grown from about two dozen to hundreds of
members participating in local chapters across California.

Our Electoral System Is Important
---------------------------------

The method by which we vote has dramatic consequences, and nearly one
third of the state's electorate consistently goes without a
representative that speaks for them in Sacramento. The choice of
electoral system can determine whether there will be "spoilers" or vote-
splitting effects, majority sweeps of representation on city councils,
or pervasive negative campaigning. The choice of electoral system
determines whether minority perspectives or racial and ethnic minority
groups receive fair representation or get shut out of the process
entirely.

CfER Is the Leading Advocacy Group for These Reforms in California
------------------------------------------------------------------

CfER works for legislation that would allow cities and counties to adopt
voting methods that allow people to rank their preferences when they
vote. CfER also works with activists in its local chapters to enact
fair election methods in cities and counties across the state.

For more information visit http://www.cfer.org/aboutus

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LOCAL CHAPTERS AND CONTACTS

Alameda County
Joan Strasser
510-653-3174
jstrasser@...

El Dorado County
Paula Lee
530-644-8760
paula.lee@...

Fresno County
Ryan Dunning
559-930-6073
ryan_dunning@...

Humboldt County
David Ogden
707-445-8304
goldfinch@...

Long Beach
Gabrielle Weeks
562-252-4196
gabrielle@...

Los Angeles Area
David Holtzman
310 477-1914
sdave@...

Marin County
Bob Richard
415-256-9393
bob@...

Mendocino County
Don Rowe
707-463-2456
irv@...

Monterey County
Michael Latner
805-466-0821
mlatner@...

Sacramento County
Pete Martineau
916-967-0300
petemrtno@...

San Bernardino County
Matt Munson
909-984-5083
thinktank909@...

San Diego
Edward Teyssier
858-546-1774
edwardtlp@...

San Luis Obispo County
Michael Latner
805-466-0821
mlatner@...

Santa Barbara County
Michael Latner
805-466-0821
mlatner@...

Santa Clara County
Jim Stauffer
408-432-9148

jimstauffer@...

Santa Cruz County
Michael Latner
805-466-0821
mlatner@...

Yolo County/Davis
Pete Martineau
916-967-0300
petemrtno@...

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SUPPORT OUR WORK

We will soon be able to accept contributions on our website. Meanwhile,
checks payable to "Californians for Electoral Reform" or "CfER" can be
mailed to the address below.

Members paying annual dues of $50 or more receive a free CfER tee shirt.

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VOICE FOR DEMOCRACY

"Voice for Democracy" is published by

Californians for Electoral Reform
P.O. Box 128
Sacramento, CA 95812

Phone: 916-455-8021
E-mail: cfer-info@...
Web site: http://www.cfer.org

Editor: Jim Lindsay
Publisher: Bob Richard
Production Team: Joan Strasser, Cat Woods

Copyright (c) 2010 by Californians for Electoral Reform. Signed articles
are the responsibility of their authors and do not necessarily reflect
the positions of CfER.

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