BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1121|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1121
Author: Davis (D), et al
Amended: 8/25/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ELECTIONS, REAP. & CONST. AMEND. COMM. : 3-2, 7/7/09
AYES: Hancock, DeSaulnier, Liu
NOES: Walters, Strickland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-4, 8/17/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk, Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Runner
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 45-30, 6/1/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Elections: ranked voting
SOURCE : Californians for Electoral Reform
DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Secretary of State to
approve up to 12 counties to use a ranked voting system.
Counties that opt to participate will be required to obtain
approval of the voters, and acquire a voting system that is
capable of conducting an election using ranked voting.
This pilot program will sunset January 1, 2019, but allows
cities and counties previously authorized to conduct ranked
voting elections under the bill to be allowed to conduct
such elections until January 1, 2024.
CONTINUED
AB 1121
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ANALYSIS : 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. 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.
Ranked voting is a system whereby 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 have been
filled. This bill outlines the specific method for
counting ballots after a ranked voting election. Ranked
voting may be used for a single-winner election such as
Mayor or City Attorney, or for elections that elect
multiple candidates such as members of a city council. To
be an eligible candidate for the use of ranked voting, a
city or county must first get approval by the voters. The
Secretary of State will then approve each request in the
order of its receipt until the maximum number of cities and
counties for each section of the state is reached. In
addition, the city or county must have a voting system that
is capable of conducting an election using ranked voting
that has been approved by the Secretary of State.
This bill authorizes 12 cities or counties to participate
with not more than four cities or counties located in each
of the northern, central, and southern regions of
California. However, if more than one city or county
approves the use of ranked voting in a single election and
the authorization of those cities or counties would exceed
the maximum number allowed, then all of those cities and
counties will be authorized.
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This bill requires cities and counties that opt to use
ranked voting in a local election to conduct a voter
education and outreach campaign through the use of public
service announcements to familiarize voters with ranked
voting in English and in every language in which a ballot
is provided to voters in that county.
This bill provides that a city or county that is been
approved to use a ranked voting system shall be permitted
to use that system until January 1, 2024, unless a later
statute is enacted to extend that date. This bill also
defines the term "sets of candidates" to mean "a continuing
candidate and all other continuing candidates with the same
or fewer votes than that candidate", and make other
technical changes.
Lastly, this bill requires local election officials that
opt to participate will be required to make a summary
report and a comprehensive report available to public after
each ranked voting election. Cities and counties will also
be required to report on the success of using a ranked
voting system during an election to the Legislative
Analyst's Office (LAO). This report will include the costs
to conduct the ranked voting election, voter turnout, and
the number of ballots that were not counted and the reason
those ballots were rejected. The LAO, in turn, will
compile the data and report to the Legislature, making
recommendations on whether the pilot should be expanded,
and any improvements that should be made.
Comments
Purpose of the bill . Today, only charter counties or
charter cities can use ranked voting. Only 108 of the
state's 478 cities are charter cities, and only 14 of the
58 counties are charter counties. According to the
author's office, over half of all Californians live in a
general law city, a general law county, or both, and thus
are denied the opportunity to participate in ranked voting.
In addition, the author's office notes that there are no
statewide standards for how ranked voting elections should
be conducted, which can create the possibility of
inconsistent implementations, as well as place additional
burdens on local officials.
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The author states, "Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) ensures
that the winner on a single-winner election has the support
of the majority of voters in a single election. By
eliminating the need for a costly runoff election it saves
local governments a lot of money-about $2 million per
election in San Francisco alone. IRV also eliminates
vote-splitting and spoiler effects, both of which undermine
the public's confidence in the political process."
Prior legislation . AB 1294 (Mullin), 2007-08 Session,
which would have allowed any city, county, or district to
conduct a local election using ranked voting, was vetoed
due to the Governor's concerns over what he believed was
the drastic change to voters represented by ranked voting,
the lack of experience with this method (except in San
Francisco), and the lack of SOS certification of voting
machines with instant run-off or choice voting capability.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
Californians for Electoral Reform (source)
Asian American Action Fund of California
Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality
California Common Cause
Californians for Electoral Reform
Cities of Davis, Hermosa Beach, and Menlo Park
FairVote
Latinos for America
League of California Cities
League of Women Voters of California
Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce
New America Foundation
Supervisor David Campos, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Eric Mar, San Francisco Board of Supervisors
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, San Francisco Board of
Supervisors
Warren Slocum, Chief Elections Officer and Assessor-County
Clerk-Recorder, San Mateo County
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ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Blumenfield, Brownley,
Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro,
Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Eng, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill,
Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torrico, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland,
Tran, Villines, Yamada
NO VOTE RECORDED: Block, Cook, Fuentes, Skinner, Torres
DLW:mw 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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