[EL] (Not Really) ranked-choice voting in SF

Mon Nov 7 10:03:10 PST 2011

This is true.  Newsom won going away four years ago.  Also, there was at least one Supervisor running unopposed for reelection last cycle. SF's system is only triggered when someone fails to get a majority on the first ballot.  So, by definition, when the system is used, the winner could not have a majority of the first ballot votes.  

More interesting would be to know how many of the eventual winners had a plurality on the first ballot.  Even more interesting is whether anyone thinks the system raises Equal Protection concerns.  Some voters only have one vote counted, others have two, still others have three.  Some are in situations where their second and third choices are eliminated in the first two ballots and are left with no valid choices when their first-choice candidate is eliminated on the third ballot.  

Mike Altschule

________________________________
From: Richard Winger <richardwinger at yahoo.com>
To: 'Rick Hasen' <rhasen at law.uci.edu>; law-election at uci.edu; Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com>
Sent: Monday, November 7, 2011 9:27 AM
Subject: Re: [EL] (Not Really) ranked-choice voting in SF

I'm really surprised to hear that anyone believes no one has ever won an IRV election in San Francisco with a majority of the first place votes.  It is very well known that in the last mayoralty election, Gavin Newsom easily won on first place votes alone, with, I believe, 72% of the voters giving him a first-place vote.  I am sure Rob Richie will be chiming in; he knows more details than I do.

Richard Winger
415-922-9779
PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147

--- On Mon, 11/7/11, Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com> wrote:

>From: Douglas Johnson <djohnson at ndcresearch.com>
>Subject: Re: [EL] (Not Really) ranked-choice voting in SF
>To: "'Rick Hasen'" <rhasen at law.uci.edu>, law-election at uci.edu
>Date: Monday, November 7, 2011, 8:58 AM
>
>
>In San Francisco voters rank only their top three choices, not all of the candidates. As a result many voters do not participate in the final "run off," because all three of their choices have been eliminated in previous rounds. 
> 
>Unlike those voters who choose not to turn out in a traditional runoff election, these SF voters have no way to know that their choices will be eliminated, and they have no way to register their preference among the final runoff candidates.
> 
>I have not personally confirmed this, but I saw one study that found none of the winners using SF's system have ever won with a majority of voters supporting them. In every case, drop-off from all three choices losing led to wins by plurality. I'd be interested to know if that study's been confirmed or disproven.
> 
>- Doug
> 
>Douglas Johnson
>Fellow
>Rose Institute of State and Local Government
>m 310-200-2058
>o 909-621-8159
>douglas.johnson at cmc.edu
> 
> 
> 
>From:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Rick Hasen
>Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 7:46 AM
>To: law-election at UCI.EDU
>Subject: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 11/7/11
> 
>LA Times Previews Pearce Recall Election in Arizona 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:38 am by Rick Hasen 
>One to watch.
>Posted inrecall elections | Comments Off 
>“Obama’s strategic edge: cash to campaign everywhere” 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:35 am by Rick Hasen 
>The LA Times offersthis front-page report.
>Posted incampaign finance, campaigns | Comments Off 
>“Tell Americans to Vote, or Else” 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:34 am by Rick Hasen 
>William Galston has written this NY Times oped.  I wrote extensively on the topic of mandatory voting in the U.s. in this piece, Voting without Law?, an older Penn Law Review article that I’ve recently posted on SSRN.
>Posted inelection administration | Comments Off 
>“States With Strict Voter Photo ID Laws More Than Tripled In 2011″ 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:30 am by Rick Hasen 
>ABC News reports. See also this LA Times editorial, “Can’t We All Just Vote?”
>Posted inelection administration, voter id | Comments Off 
>“County plans to prevent provisional ballot problems” 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:24 am by Rick Hasen 
>An important story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, which also discusses the Hunter litigation.
>Posted inelection administration | Comments Off 
>“Ranked Choice Put To The Test In S.F. Mayor Race” 
>Posted on November 7, 2011 8:21 am by Rick Hasen 
>NPR reports.
>Posted inalternative voting systems | Comments Off 
>“Small Elections Drawing Big Money In Some States” 
>Posted on November 6, 2011 9:53 pm by Rick Hasen 
>NPR reports.
>Posted incampaign finance, campaigns | Comments Off 
>“Independent committees obscure campaign fund trail” 
>Posted on November 6, 2011 9:46 pm by Rick Hasen 
>The SF Chronicle reports.
>Posted incampaign finance | Comments Off 
>“Democrats Target Restrictive Voter Laws” 
>Posted on November 6, 2011 9:45 pm by Rick Hasen 
>NPR reports.
>Posted inelection administration, The Voting Wars | Comments Off 
>“Bring Same-Day Registration Back? Maine Votes” 
>Posted on November 6, 2011 9:43 pm by Rick Hasen 
>NPR reports.
>Posted inelection administration, voter registration | Comments Off 
>WaPo Profile of Justice O’Connor Discusses Her Role on Judicial Selection Changes 
>Posted on November 6, 2011 9:41 pm by Rick Hasen 
>Here.
>Posted injudicial elections | Comments Off 
>“Popular fallacy: a public choice analysis of Electoral College reform” 
>Posted on November 5, 2011 1:29 pm by Rick Hasen 
>Brandon Draper has written this article for the International Journal of Public Law and Policy.  Here is the abstract:
>This article contends that the demand for Electoral College reform that occurs during every US presidential election season, most notably after the 2000 presidential election controversy, is largely misguided. Individuals demanding reform mainly seek to replace the Electoral College with an election system that, unlike the Electoral College, guarantees that the winner earns the most national popular votes. However, public choice provides a unique framework for assessing the inherent flaws of these reforms against the Electoral College. This article, under a public choice analysis, will seek to explain the deficiencies of the Electoral College, but more importantly, explain why reforms to or the abolishment of the Electoral College may either fail to solve US presidential election problems or even exacerbate them.
> 
>Posted inelectoral college | Comments Off 
>“Rules of the Game: Campaign Finance Rules Too Lax, Some Say” 
>Posted on November 5, 2011 1:24 pm by Rick Hasen 
>Eliza’s latest.
>Posted incampaign finance | Comments Off 
>“Ohio Redistricting Compromise Looks ‘Dead’” 
>Posted on November 5, 2011 11:21 am by Rick Hasen 
>Roll Call reports.
>Posted inredistricting | Comments Off 
>“Cain’s Legal Team: The Bopp Connection” 
>Posted on November 5, 2011 11:19 am by Rick Hasen 
>The WSJ Law Blog reports.
>Posted incampaign finance, election law biz | Comments Off 
>-- 
>Rick Hasen
>Professor of Law and Political Science
>UC Irvine School of Law
>401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
>Irvine, CA
 92697-8000
>949.824.3072 - office
>949.824.0495 - fax
>rhasen at law.uci.edu
>http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
>http://electionlawblog.org
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