Amy Goodman inteviewed Matt Gonzalez, former President of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco. He almost became Green Party mayor of San Francisco, narrowly losing to Gavin Newsom 53-47. He actually won the race by 10,000 votes on election day and lost in absentee ballots
Thursday 4/17 Democracy Now with Matt Gonzalez, Ralph Nader's VP
In the wide ranging discussion Amy Goodman played tapes of Clinton and Obama at last night's debate and he commented. He also mentioned the need for electoral reform.
Election Reform to end the spoiler problem is sorely needed.
Look below to see how doable it is.
Instant Runoff Voting legislation was enacted in San Francisco 6 years ago. So far it has been successfully used there 3 times, and it has been adopted by 15 additional cities and a county in Washington.
It is currently used here
Arkansas (overseas voters)
Burlington, VT
Cambridge, MA (Proportional voting method of choice voting)
Cary, North Carolina
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Louisiana (overseas and military voters)
North Carolina (certain judicial vacancies)
San Francisco, CA
Springfield, IL (overseas and military voters)
South Carolina (overseas voters)
Takoma Park, MD
With Upcoming implementations in the United States:
Aspen, CO
Berkeley, CA
Ferndale, MI
Minneapolis, MN
North Carolina (city and county pilot programs)
Oakland, CA
Pierce County, WA
Election Reform like Instant Runoff Voting can be accomplished in the following states because Democrats hold the POWER
STATE
Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Connecticut
Hawaii
Illinois
Iowa
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
North Carolina
Oregon
Rhode Island
Tennessee
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia
Details on Legislation Majorities and Governorships Here
Are they doing anything about it?
Vermont recently passed IRV legislation which would apply to state and federal elections except the presidency.
On March 14, 2008, the Vermont House joined the Senate in approving legislation that would implement instant runoff voting (IRV) for congressional elections beginning in 2008. The measure passed by a vote of 81 to 60. If this bill is implemented, Vermont will be the first state to adopt IRV for statewide elections. This legislation generated strong support from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, Common Cause, Vermont PIRG, FairVote and the League of Women Voters of Vermont. IRV has a strong history of support in Vermont including endorsements from more than 50 town meetings and former governor Howard Dean.
(Video) Howard Dean participates in using IRV and speaks about it in Burlington, Vermont
Even with all that support and the Democrats having 2-1 and 3-1 majorities the Instant Runoff Voting legislation only passed by 4 votes.
The Republican governor vetoed it as expected, will the Democrats in Vermont override that veto, should they?