BILL NUMBER: AB 1294	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 17, 2007
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 3, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 4, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 25, 2007
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 11, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Members Mullin and Leno
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Davis, Hancock, Huffman, Karnette,
Laird, Ma, and Wolk)

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to add Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10050) to Part 1
of Division 10 of the Elections Code, relating to elections.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1294, as amended, Mullin. Ranked voting: local elections.
   Existing law provides procedures for the nomination of candidates
for elective offices in general law cities. It specifies the
procedures for the conduct of the election, the canvass of ballots,
and certification of persons elected to office. Related provisions
require the holding of a runoff election if no candidate has been
elected at the municipal election. Existing law provides that a
vacancy in an elective office may be filled by appointment, at a
special election, or at the next regular municipal election, as
specified. Under existing law, the Secretary of State is the chief
elections officer of the state and is required to administer the
provisions of the Elections Code.
   This bill would authorize a city or county to conduct a local
election using ranked voting if specified conditions are met. This
bill would specify the ranked voting method as it applies to both a
single-candidate election and a multiple-candidate election.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 10050) is added to
Part 1 of Division 10 of the Elections Code, to read:
      CHAPTER 2.  RANKED VOTING


   10050.  (a) Any city or county may conduct a local election using
ranked voting in which voters rank the candidates for office in order
of preference. Ranked voting elections may be used for single-winner
elections, such as Mayor or City Attorney, or for elections that
elect multiple candidates to office, such as city council. Ranked
voting elections are tabulated in rounds as specified in Section
10051 for single-winner elections and Section 10052 for
multiple-winner elections. General provisions for both single-winner
elections and multiple-winner elections are specified in this
section.
   (b) As used in this chapter, the following definitions shall
apply:
   (1) "Ranked voting" means an election method in which voters rank
the candidates for office in order of preference, and the ballots are
counted in rounds that, in the case of a single-winner election,
simulate a series of runoffs until only two candidates remain, with
the one having the greater number of votes being declared the winner,
or in the case of multiple-winner elections, until all seats to be
elected have been filled.
   (2) "Qualified candidate" means any candidate listed on the ballot
for this election or any write-in candidate qualified for
participation in this election.
   (3) "Ranking" for a candidate on a voter's ballot is the number
assigned to that candidate by the voter to express their preference
for that candidate, with the "highest ranking" being the one with the
lowest numerical value for a qualified candidate, in which a first
choice ranking indicates a greater preference for a candidate than a
second choice ranking, and "highest continuing ranking" for a
candidate on a voter's ballot is the ranking with the lowest
numerical value for a continuing candidate. The "highest ranking" and
"highest continuing ranking" are those rankings already advanced
past blank choices or marks for unqualified write-in candidates as
specified in (f) and (g) below.
   (4) (A) "Continuing ballot" means a ballot that counts towards
some candidate.
   (B) "Continuing candidate" means a qualified candidate that has
not been elected or eliminated.
   (C) "Majority of votes" means more than 50 percent of the votes
coming from continuing ballots.
   (c) A voting method authorized by this section may be adopted by
any of the following:
   (1) By approval of a ballot measure submitted to the voters by the
governing body of the city or county at an election pursuant to
Division 9 (commencing with Section 9000).
   (2) By initiative ordinance or charter amendment adopted pursuant
to Division 9 (commencing with Section 9000).
   (d) Any city or county using a ranked voting method shall conduct
a voter education and outreach campaign to familiarize voters with
ranked voting in English and in every language that a ballot is
required to be made available pursuant to this code and the federal
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973aa-1).
   (e) The ranked voting ballot shall allow voters to rank as many
choices as there are candidates. In the event that the voting
equipment cannot feasibly accommodate a number of rankings on the
ballot equal to the number of candidates, the elections official may
limit the number of choices a voter may rank to the maximum number
allowed by the equipment. This limit shall never be less than three.
   (f) The ballot shall not interfere with a voter's ability to rank
a write-in candidate. For the purposes of this section, a mark for an
unqualified write-in candidate shall not be considered a mark for a
candidate.
   (g) In the first or any round, in the event that any ballot
reaches a ranking with no candidate indicated, that ballot shall
immediately be advanced to the next ranking. In the event of a mark
for an unqualified write-in candidate as covered in subdivision (f)
of Section 10050, that ballot shall be advanced to the next ranking.
   (h) In the event that two or more candidates tie for the smallest
number of votes, the candidate to eliminate shall be chosen by lot in
a manner similar to that described by subdivision (a) of Section
15651, except that subdivision (b) of Section 15651 shall not apply
and the candidate chosen by lot shall be eliminated.
   (i) After each round, any ballot that is not continuing is an
undervote, overvote, or exhausted ballot, pursuant to this
subdivision. Any ballot that has no candidates indicated at any
ranking shall be declared an "undervote." If any ballot reaches a
ranking with more than one candidate indicated, that ballot shall
immediately be declared an "overvote." If any ballot cannot be
advanced because no further candidates are ranked on that ballot,
that ballot shall immediately be declared "exhausted." Any ballot
that has been declared an undervote, overvote, or exhausted shall
remain so and shall not count towards any candidate in that round or
in subsequent rounds.
   (j) A city or county may not conduct a local election using ranked
voting unless that election is conducted on a voting system that is
capable of conducting the election using ranked voting and that has
been approved by the Secretary of State pursuant to Division 19
(commencing with Section 19001)  , or unless the ranked
voting ballots are to be counted by hand  .
   10051.  A voting method enacted pursuant to Section 10050 for an
election to elect a single candidate to office shall be known as
"instant runoff voting" and shall be conducted in the following
manner:
   (a) The ballots shall be counted in rounds pursuant to all of the
following order:
   (1) In the first round, every ballot shall count as a vote towards
the candidate indicated by the highest continuing ranking on that
ballot.
   (2) After every round, if a candidate receives a majority of votes
from the continuing ballots, that candidate shall be declared
elected.
   (3) If no candidate receives a majority, the candidate receiving
the smallest number of votes shall be eliminated, and every ballot
counting towards that candidate shall be advanced to the next-ranked
continuing candidate on the ballot. If there is a tie between two or
more candidates for the smallest number of votes, the tie shall be
resolved by lot. All the ballots shall be counted again in a new
round.
   (4) If there are only two candidates remaining, and those two
candidates have the same number of votes from the continuing ballots,
the tie shall be resolved by lot.
   (b) During the elimination stage of any round, in the event that
any candidate has more votes than the combined vote total of all
candidates with fewer votes, but less than a majority of votes, all
the candidates with fewer votes than this candidate shall be
eliminated simultaneously, and those ballots advanced to the
next-ranked continuing candidate.
   10052.  A voting method enacted pursuant to Section 10050 for an
election to elect two or more candidates to office shall be known as"
choice voting" and shall be conducted in the following manner:
   (a) The minimum threshold of votes necessary to be elected shall
be determined by dividing the total number of votes cast for that
office by one more than the number of offices to be filled and then
adding one vote, and then ignoring any fraction, as shown in the
following formula:
   The total number of votes cast, divided by the sum of one plus the
number of offices to be filled, plus one, ignoring any fraction,
equals the minimum threshold of votes necessary to be elected.
   (b) All ballots are counted and each ballot is allocated as a vote
to the candidate receiving the highest ranking.
   (c) Each candidate that receives the minimum threshold of votes
necessary to be elected shall be declared elected.
   (d) If a candidate on the first count has a number of highest
ranking votes exactly equal to the minimum number of votes needed to
be elected, then that candidate is declared elected and the counted
ballots indicating that candidate as a highest ranking are put aside
and the other rankings recorded on the ballots are not examined.
   (e) If a candidate on the first count gains more than the minimum
number of votes needed to be elected, the candidate is declared
elected, and the number of votes in excess of the number of votes
needed to be elected (the surplus) is recorded. All of the elected
candidate's ballots are then reexamined and assigned to candidates
not yet elected according to the highest continuing ranking on the
ballots of those who gave a first preference vote to the elected
candidate. These votes are allocated according to a "transfer value."
The formula for the transfer value is:
   Surplus votes cast for the elected candidate, divided by total
number of votes received by the elected candidate, calculated out to
four decimal places using "rounding to nearest" equals the transfer
value.
   (f) If two or more candidates on the first count gain more than
the minimum number of votes needed to be elected, all of those
candidates are declared elected. Each of the ballots of the candidate
with the largest number of highest ranking votes will be reexamined
first and assigned (at the transfer value) to candidates not yet
elected according to the next highest continuing ranking marked on
that ballot. The ballots of the other elected candidates will then be
reexamined and their surpluses distributed in order according to the
number of highest ranking votes each candidate received.
   (g) If a candidate reaches more than the minimum number of votes
needed to be elected as the consequence of a transfer of votes from
an elected candidate, the number of votes in excess of the number of
votes needed to be elected shall be transferred to other candidates.
This transfer will be to the next highest continuing ranking shown on
each of this candidate's ballots. These ballots now include (1)
ballots indicating this candidate as the highest ranking, and (2) the
ballots transferred to the candidate from one or more elected
candidates. The transfer value for the ballots on which the candidate
was indicated by the highest ranking is the same as the transfer
value defined in subdivision (e).
   The transfer value for each ballot transferred to the candidate
from one or more previously elected candidates shall be the surplus
votes cast for the elected candidate divided by the total number of
votes received by the elected candidate multiplied by the previous
transfer value of the ballot received by that candidate, as shown in
the following formula:
   The surplus votes cast for the elected candidate, divided by the
total number of votes received by the elected candidate, multiplied
by the previous transfer value of the ballot received by that
candidate, calculated out five decimal places and rounded to the
fourth decimal place.
   (h) If no candidate has a number of votes equal to or greater than
the minimum number of votes needed to be elected as a consequence of
a redistribution of surplus votes from a previously elected
candidate, the candidate with the smallest number of votes is
eliminated. All of eliminated candidate's ballots, both ballots
indicating that candidate as the highest ranking and any ballots
transferred from other candidates, are transferred to the next
highest continuing ranking on the eliminated candidate's ballots.
   The ballots in which the eliminated candidate was indicated by the
highest ranking are transferred to the candidate indicated by next
highest continuing ranking on that ballot at full value. Ballots
received from previously elected or previously eliminated candidates
are transferred at the transfer value at which the ballots were
received.
   (i) Tabulation of votes shall continue in the following sequence:
   (1) The surplus votes of elected candidates shall be redistributed
until no more candidates receive the minimum threshold of votes
necessary to be elected. The surplus votes of the newly elected
candidate with the greatest surplus will be distributed first, and
the surpluses of the other newly elected candidates will then be
distributed in order according to the number of surplus votes of each
elected candidate awaiting transfer of surplus votes.
   (2) Candidates are eliminated as specified in subdivision (h) and
the votes of eliminated candidates are redistributed until another
candidate receives the minimum threshold of votes necessary to be
elected.
   (3) When all but one of the candidates to be elected have been
elected, and only two candidates remain in the count, the candidate
with the most votes is declared elected, even though the candidate
may not have reached the minimum threshold of votes necessary to be
elected.
   (j) A tie between two or more candidates for fewest votes, as
specified in subdivision (h), shall be resolved by lot and that
candidate chosen by lot shall be eliminated. A tie between two or
more candidates for the number of highest ranking votes received, as
specified in subdivision (f), or the most surplus votes, as specified
in paragraph (1) of subdivision (i), shall be resolved by lot and
the candidate chosen by lot shall be the first to have his or her
surplus votes transferred.
   10053.  The instructions to the voters for an election that uses
ranked voting shall read substantially as follows:
   "To vote in this election, indicate by selecting or marking a '1'
in the voting square to the right of your first choice, a '2' in the
voting square to the right of your second choice, a '3' in the voting
square to the right of your third choice, and so on. Do not give the
same number to more than one candidate. You may rank as many or as
few of the candidates as you choose, up to the limit specified, if
any. Your second choice will not hurt your first choice, your third
choice will not hurt your first two choices, and so on.
   You may include one or more qualified write-in candidates in your
rankings by writing each person's name in one of the blank spaces
provided for that purpose after the names of the other candidates for
the same office, and then writing the desired ranking in the voting
square to the right of that name."
   The instructions may be modified as appropriate for the specific
voting equipment used, as long as the intent is preserved.
   10054.  Summary, ballot image, and comprehensive reports shall be
made available after each ranked voting election, as follows:
   (a) The "summary report" for a race means a report that lists the
candidate vote totals in each round, along with the cumulative
numbers of undervotes, overvotes, and exhausted ballots in each
round.
   (b) The "ballot image report" for a race means a report that
lists, for each ballot, the candidate or candidates indicated at each
ranking, the precinct of the ballot, and whether the ballot was cast
absentee. In the report, the ballots shall be listed in an order
that does not permit the order in which they were cast in each
precinct to be reconstructed.
   (c) The "comprehensive report" for a race means a report that
breaks the numbers in the summary report down by precinct. The report
shall list, for each round, the number of ballots cast in each
precinct that count as votes for each candidate in that round, that
have been declared undervotes, that have been declared overvotes up
to that point, and that have been declared exhausted up to that
point.
   (d) Mode and manner of release. Preliminary versions of the
summary report and ballot image report shall be made available as
soon as possible after the commencement of the official canvass of
the vote pursuant to Section 15301 and prior to the 1 percent manual
tally pursuant to Section 15360. The summary report, ballot image
report, comprehensive report, and preliminary versions of the summary
report and ballot image report shall be made available to the public
during the canvass via the Internet and by other means. The ballot
image report and preliminary versions of the ballot image report
shall be made available in a plain text electronic format.