[cinci_dads] Proportional Representation petition campaign
- From: "Dan" <DZavon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Ellen Bierhorst" <ellenbierhorst@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 12:59:19 -0400
Obama campaigners at Salon this Wed. - 5
I'm working on a petition campaign to bring Proportional Representation back
to Cincinnati. That's the way Cincinnati elected its City Council for 30 years
(1920s to 1950s), and it brought consistent minority representation to the
council even when African Americans were a much smaller percentage of the
population than they are today. It gives us majority rule AND minority
representation. You rank your choices from 1 up to as many as 9, and your vote
counts for your first choice, unless that candidate can't use it (either
because s/he already has enough votes to be elected, or because s/he has so few
votes s/he can't possibly be elected), in which case your vote counts for your
second choice (or your highest choice who can still use your vote).
To show what is wrong with our current voting system (9x), I use the example
of an election in which 44,000 Democrats vote, along with 33,000 Republicans
and 22,000 Charterites. If all three parties put up a full slate of 9
candidates, and all voters vote a straight party ticket for their party, the
result under the current 9x system of voting would be 9 Democrats elected to
City Council, even though a majority of voters (five ninths) wanted no
Democrats. This is not majority rule OR minority representation. Under
Proportional Representation, the result (with the same voters voting the same
way) would be a council with 4 Democrats, 3 Republicans, and 2 Charterites.
PR gives fair representation to all substantial groups in the voting
population, whether they be racial, issue, gender, neighborhood, or whatever is
important to the voters in the election.
To put this issue on the ballot, we need 6100 valid signatures of registered
voters who live in the city limits of Cincinnati. We really need some more
people to pass petitions. Even if you can get only 10 or 20 signatures, that
would be very much appreciated. If you are interested, or need more
information, please call Josh Krekeler at 513-368-4062, or email him at
betterballotleague@xxxxxxxxx
Please pass the word. Thanks.
Dan Zavon
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