Election Methods: Review of Alternatives and Oregon Proposals League of Women Voters ® of Oregon Education Fund September 2008

Election Systems’ Criteria Factors to consider: Ensure majority rule Encourage minority representation Encourage fair gender representation Produce fair and accurate representation of diverse political views in legislatures.

Increase voter participation Encourage geographic representation Encourage “sincere” voting as opposed to “strategic voting” Maximize opportunities for effective votes and reduce the spoiler effect Election Systems’ Criteria

Provide a reasonable range of voter choice Prevent fraud and political manipulation Encourage competitive election Be easy to use and administer Election Systems’ Criteria

Nonpartisan Versus Partisan Elections Nonpartisan PRO? CON? Oregon Considerations

Single Seat Methods Unranked methodsRanked methods PluralityApproval Range Majority Methods Borda Condorcet Open/Top Two Instant Runoff Voting

Unranked Election Methods Plurality: Candidates for the State Senate Vote for one Ellery Queen (Democrat) Agatha Christie (Republican) Rex Stout (nonaffiliated) Ruth Rendell (Libertarian) Write-In Approval Voting: Voters can vote for more than one candidate and whoever gets the most votes wins.

Unranked Election Methods Range Voting BadPoor FairGood Great Ruth Rendell Rex Stout Sue Grafton John Grisham

Ranked Methods Voters rank candidates Rankings are converted to points-Borda Preferential paired candidates - Condorcet

Primaries Closed Primaries Open Primaries Blanket Primary Oregon’s Measure 65 in the 2008 General Election

Primaries Closed Primaries : - voter registration includes party declaration - only major party registrants can vote that party’s nomination to general election

Primaries Open Primaries : - typically no party declaration when registering to vote - voter chooses party in which to vote for nomination to the general election - no crossover voting allowed

Primaries Blanket Primary: - all voters receive the same ballot - still selecting major party nominees to general election - crossover voting is allowed - has been found unconstitutional

Primaries Oregon’s Measure 65: - partisan primaries no longer used to elect major party nominees to general election - all voters receive the same ballot - all candidates including minor parties and NAVs appear on primary ballot - only top two go on to general election

Instant Runoff Voting Do not use X marks. Mark your choices with NUMBERS only. Put the figure 1 opposite your first choice, the figure 2 opposite your second choice, the figure 3 opposite your third choice, and so on. You may make as many choices as you please. Do not put the same figure opposite more than one name. Candidates for State Senate. Ellery Queen (Democrat) Agatha Christie (Republican) Rex Stout (Independent) Ruth Rendell (Libertarian) Write-In To Vote for a Write-In Candidate: next to the name you have written in, put a number that represents your choice for that candidate

Transfer Process in IRV Candidates and parties First Count Second CountThird Count Original first choice votes Transfer of Rendell’s votes New Totals Transfer of Stouts Votes New Totals E.Queen (D) A.Christie (R) R. Stout (I) R.Rendell (L) 43,000 42,000 8,000 7, ,000 48,000 9, ,000 +4, ,00052, Winning candidate – Christie

Fusion Voting __ John Grisham – Democrat __ Stephen King – Republican __ Anne Rice – Socialist __ Sue Grafton – Libertarian __ John Grisham – Green Party

Multiple Seat Election Methods Multiple Seat Methods Cumulative Voting STV or Choice Voting

Election Administration Considerations Software upgrades Voter education Ballot design Longer ballots Vote-by-mail system

National Popular Vote Concerns about the Electoral College Interstate Compact