[EL] Ballot Arguments Against Too-Early Elections

[D. A. Holtzman]

Yesterday I was designated by the City of Los Angeles to write the 
ballot book arguments against measures E and EE on the November ballot.

These proposed charter amendments would move the city and school 
district “primary” election dates to March, starting in 2020, to match 
California’s new state and federal election calendar.

Here's a problem with that: While regular state and federal elections 
never end before November, city and school district elections often end 
when a candidate gets a majority of votes in the so-called “primary.”

So, the earlier the “primary” date, the longer reelected officials get 
to be in office without being accountable to voters.And the shorter time 
voters get to learn about events and information relevant to choosing 
who should serve in office next.

I think there has been some discussion on this list about possible legal 
challenges to holding elections too early.If you know about such 
challenges, or what might support them, please let me know.

But mainly, ***if you or someone or an organization you know would like 
to co-sign or help write the official arguments against E and EE, please 
let me know ASAP.**
*
- David Holtzman
d at lavotefire.org <mailto:d at lavotefire.org>
(310) 826-7398

p.s. In the arguments, I will suggest that using Ranked Choice Voting 
for instant runoff elections would be a good alternative to having 
elections that are too long or too early.

I’m thinking of including something like this:
“Forcing voters to make final decisions in March 2020 would be like 
forcing baseball managers to sign players for 2021 before the 2020 
season has even begun.We, the managers, deserve a chance to see how well 
the players do in 2020 before we decide about 2021.”

And I’ll suggest that voting NO could help get voters an acceptable 
alternative:
“NO votes on E and EE will give the City Council a chance to come back 
to us with a better idea.”

Then I’ll list and discuss better ideas:
A) The “top-two” system used in our state and federal elections.(“We 
should always have at least two choices in November!”)
B) Ranked Choice Voting in November with instant runoffs if needed.(We 
actually don’t need a separate primary election day.”)
C) Citywide/Districtwide Ranked Choice Voting for proportional 
representation (“So where you live does not decide who represents you.”)

Ok, maybe I’ll skip C...

-- 

Simple Instant Runoff Election Ballot

Acceptable candidates, in the order you prefer them:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
(...)

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