Not that I am aware of. I cannot even say that cumulative voting had
anything to do with the perceived high level of political corruption in
Illinois in the post-war period. I can only report that among politically
active people in the 1980s in Illinois, there seemed to be a widely shared
perception that cumulative voting was a causal factor in stabilizing a
corrupt political system. Causation issues are hard enough in social
science; I would not wager much by the existence of actual evidence in
Illinois linking cumulative voting with bossism. But the fact that
cumulative voting was in place during a period of perceived corrupt bossism
was a historic legacy with continued salience in the 1980s.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fabrice Lehoucq" <fabrice.lehoucq@cide.edu>
To: "'Sam Issacharoff'" <sissac@law.columbia.edu>; <smulroy@memphis.edu>;
"'Dan Johnson-Weinberger'" <djw@fairvote.org>
Cc: <election-law@majordomo.lls.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 8:54 AM
Subject: RE: Illinois election legislation
Sam --
Is there any evidence that links cumulative voting with bossism? The
mechanism is not hard to conceptualize -- a candidate/party promises
particularistic benefits in exchange for people pledging all of their votes.
To the extent that partries can confirm the behavior of voters, cumulative
voting allows candidates to win office with the support of small numbers of
voters. But, is there a study that demonstrates or at least describes these
mechanisms?
Fabrice Lehoucq
Division of Political Studies
Centro de Investigaci—n y Docencia Econ—mica (CIDE)
Carret. Mexico-Toluca 3655
Lomas de Santa Fˇ, Mexico City, DF, CP 01210
Tel. 52 55/5727 9800, ext. 2215 (voice) & -9871 or 9873 (fax)
E-mail: Fabrice.Lehoucq@cide.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu
[mailto:owner-election-law_gl@majordomo.lls.edu]On Behalf Of Sam
Issacharoff
Sent: Martes, 13 de Mayo de 2003 08:57 p.m.
To: smulroy@memphis.edu; Dan Johnson-Weinberger
Cc: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu
Subject: Re: Illinois election legislation
There is a history to cumulative voting in Illinois that complicates the
issue. Until about the 1960s (this is from memory, so my dates may be off)
Illinois had cumulative voting for a number of offices, including, I
believe, the state legislature. A system emerged in which the parties
effectively did not run candidates against one of the slotted positions, so
that it locked in longstanding political deals. I do not know how stable
this was, or why it should be so. But I was surprised to find that when I
litigated a number of at-large election challenges in Illinois in the
mid-1980s there was a strong historic association of cumulative voting with
ward-boss corruption. This was a major obstacle in the first success we had
in obtaining cumulative voting through litigation and settlement in Peoria
in about 1987.
----- Original Message -----
From: <smulroy@memphis.edu>
To: "Dan Johnson-Weinberger" <djw@fairvote.org>
Cc: <election-law@majordomo.lls.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: Illinois election legislation
This is great news. I've always thought that if we were to move away
from the tyranny of the winner-take-all system, it would have to begin
slowly and at the local level.
Dan, please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Johnson-Weinberger" <proportionalrepresentation@msn.com>
Date: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 4:10 pm
Subject: Illinois election legislation
I think this is on-topic.
The Illinois General Assembly has passed legislation to permit
county boards
to give cumulative voting rights in county elections.
Many counties in Illinois use multi-seat districts without
cumulative voting
rights; the political minority is then dramatically under-represented.
DuPage County is the prime example (the home of U.S. Congressman
Henry Hyde,
just west of Chicago's Cook County): with 6 districts electing
three county
board members each, not a single Democrat serves on the county board.
Democrats typically earn at least a third of the vote in each of the
districts (and some Democratic statewide candidates have earned a
majorityof the vote in the county), but Republicans win all 18 seats.
If voters enjoyed cumulative voting rights, it is extremely likely
that the
Democratic minority in DuPage County would elect one of the three
countyboard members in each of the districts, more accurately
reflecting the
electorate.
Most of the counties that are majority Democratic use single-member
districts, so Republicans generally have some representation
(though still
generally under-represented).
Governor Blagojevich has until approximately August 9th to sign the
legislation. The bill number is HB 138. The full text and legislative
history of the bill are here:
http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/BillStatus.asp?
DocNum=138&GAID=3&Do
cTypeID=HB&LegId=353&SessionID=3
The legislation also authorizes citizen-initiated advisory
referenda on the
structure of the county board.
If the governor signs the bill, I'll post to the list any news of any
counties that take advantage of the new opportunity to grant
cumulativevoting rights. (There are 102 counties, about half of
which use multi-seat
districts, so I'm hoping we'll snag at least one or two). If
anyone would
like more information about the legislation, I'm happy to provide
it on- or
off-list.
Best,
Dan
Dan Johnson-Weinberger
General Counsel
Center for Voting and Democracy
325 West Huron #304
Chicago, IL 60610
www.fairvote.org
djw@fairvote.org
312.587.7060 (office)
312.933.4890 (mobile)
Electing a legislature?
Use cumulative voting in three-member districts so all voters
have a
voice
Electing an executive like governor, mayor or president?
Use instant runoff voting so the winner has a majority
mandate and no
vote is wasted
"Those who are saying it cannot be done should not interrupt those
who are
doing it." Chinese proverb