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LOCAL GREEN PARTY CRITICIZES EFFORTS TO REMOVE IRV REFERENDUM FROM THE BALLOT
Contact:
Joe Futrelle, 217-390-2971, futrelle@prairiegreens.org
Tom Abram, 847-814-6947, tabram@ilgp.org
Urbana, IL - The local Green Party spoke out against the efforts of a Democratic official to remove a citizen initiated referendum on instant runoff voting from the ballot. The group Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting, which includes several Greens, collected over 1,000 signatures to get a binding referendum on instant runoff voting for Urbana municipal elections on the February 2008 primary ballot. Al Klein, First Vice Chair of the Champaign County Democrats, filed an objection to the petitions. The objection was heard by an electoral board composed of Democratic Mayor Laurel Prussing, Democratic City Clerk Phyllis Clark, and Democratic City Council Alderman Dennis Roberts.
Joe Futrelle, candidate for County Board District 8 and member of Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting, commented on the lack of impartiality in the challenge process. "The objection against a Green supported referendum by a high ranking Democratic official is being heard by three top ranking Democratic officials. The process is not impartial on its face and speaks to the desperate need for electoral reform. IRV would bring more voices into the process and combat the monopolization of one party. The Green Party supports IRV and other electoral reforms, such as proportional representation and lowered signature requirements for ballot access."
Mark Mallon, a student at the University of the Illinois, was heavily involved in the Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting. "We collected over 1,000 signatures, which shows that there is a clear mandate from Urbana voters that they want electoral reform. Partisan politics should not impede the will of the people."
The referendum will not appear on the February primary ballot, as the electoral board decided to sustain the objection of Klein. However, Citizens for Instant Runoff Voting indicated they will continue their efforts to bring IRV to Urbana.
Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is a voting system used for single winner elections in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. In an IRV election, if no candidate receives an overall majority of first preference votes the candidates with fewest votes are eliminated one by one. The votes from the dropped candidates transfer according to the voters' second and third preferences (and so on), and all votes are retallied until one candidate achieves a majority. The term "instant runoff voting" is used because this process resembles a series of run-off elections.
IRV would replace Urbana's plurality single winner election system with a new, more dynamic and democratic voting system for the 2009 municipal elections. IRV has been implemented in several countries and municipalities across the United States. Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Burlington, and Cambridge are all currently using or transitioning into instant runoff voting. Additionally, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Springfield, Illinois use IRV for certain military and overseas ballots. IRV is also used in Australia, Ireland, and London.
For more information see:www.prairiegreens.org
www.irvforurbana.net
