SMRV Submits a Request to Speak to the Council

Santa Monica Ranked Voting has submitted a request to speak to the city council and ask that they direct staff to study the feasibility of adopting and implementing ranked voting for Santa Monica's elections.  This comes at a time of growing interest in ranked voting, especially in California.  If this request passes, it would be a very important step towards fairer elections in our city.  You can find the text of our request here.  We included some supporting materials with our request, including this report by the San Francisco Department of Elections and this report by the Center for Voting and Democracy.  Both of these reports are about San Francisco's very successful election last November, where they used Instant Runoff Voting for the first time.  We are currently waiting for the city to assign a date for this agenda item.  In the meantime, we are requesting letters of support from local organizations and letting our supporters know that this item is imminent. 

So far, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition and the Pico Neighborhood Association have all voted to supply a letter of support for this item. 

You can help by sending a letter of support as well.  Here is a sample letter (Word, pdf) for you to modify with a personal touch before mailing to the council.  Also, be prepared to come to the council meeting and show your support for this important reform!

Comments

[Chris J.]

I just read the report you submitted.

It is so excellent! I'm very impressed by how clear the writing is. There's no way they can refuse! :)

CHRIS