Electoral reform update...

There are two bills related to electoral reform scheduled for hearings tomorrow before the Texas House Elections Committee:
HB 1790 would modify state law to allow municipalities or ISDs to use instant runoff voting during elections should they so choose.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/79r/billtext/HB01790I.HTM
HB 2056 increases access to voter registration resources at high schools and universities.
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/79r/billtext/HB02056I.HTM
Interested in testifying in favor of either (or both) of these bills at the hearing tomorrow evening (Wednesday, April 27th)? Let me know...thanks!

House IRV Bill Filed

We now have a House Bill filed as well. The text for HB 1790 is available online:

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/79r/billtext/HB01790I.HTM

Please let us know if you're interested in helping out with lobbying efforts.

01/24 IRV Update

Happy New Year!

Good news: State Representative Gonzalo Barrientos has introduced legislation to allow for instant runoff voting in some Texas elections. The text of Senate Bill 197 (as introduced) is available here. We'll be meeting this week to discuss next steps - please stay tuned if you're interested.

IRV advocates may also want to check out the new report (PDF) "Evaluation of San Francisco’s First Ranked Choice Voting Election" from the folks a FairVote.org.

BC-STV

The Citizen's Assembly of British Columbia has put together a great flash movie detailing their single-transferable vote (STV) system: View Flash Movie

Via Democracy Advocates Network

Electoral Reform Updates

• The National Voting Rights Institute has a website that provides updates on their role in the Ohio recount here.
• Arlington, MA State Representative Jay Kaufman has filed legistlation for IRV.
• Several bills requiring a paper audit trail for electronic voting machines have been pre-filed for the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature, including SB 94 (Shapleigh) and HB 166 (Pena). HB 56 (Denny) would provide criminal penalties for tampering with electronic voting machines.

Instant Runoff Austin will hold a brief brainstorming meeting this Saturday, December 18th, at Quack's in Hyde Park at 2:30pm. Please email Sarah if you need more information - we hope to see you there!

Democracy Advocates Network

Instant Runoff Austin is proud to be the newest contributor to the Democracy Advocates Network blog. Stop by to learn more about movements like ours going on in Davis, California, New York state, and beyond. Thanks to Dan Johnson-Weinberger for building our network!

Salon on Electoral Reform

Salon (subscription required) has a good piece on electoral reform:

Before the election, many people -- people like Lockshin -- felt irrelevant with respect to politics in America. Now, after the election, many Americans are distressed by the results. Why not channel this despair into something productive for the future? asks Rodriguez-Taseff. Why not work to reform the abysmal American electoral system?

Austin IRV Update

For the next couple of weeks, we're concentrating on building a network of support locally and nationally. Thus far, we've been in touch with the folks at The Center for Voting and Democracy, InstantRunoff.com, the Travis County Green Party, Independent Texans, and numerous individuals.

We need your help to expand our reach. Please sign up for our email list if you haven't already done so and let us know if there are any other groups we should get in touch with.

Thanks for your continued support!

Lessons from a Canadian experiment in democracy

Here's a fascinating article about an electoral reform initiative taking place among our northern neighbors:

In 2003, the B.C. government established a Citizens' Assembly, made up of 160 randomly selected citizens — one man and one woman from each electoral district, plus two at-large Aboriginal members. On Oct. 24, the assembly reached an important milestone in its historic experiment by voting 146-7 to recommend replacing the current system with a "single transferable vote" model, which lets voters rank candidates within multimember districts. If the B.C. electorate approves this new model in May, the provincial government will make it law.

The assembly's plan emerged from months of deliberation and hearings (which are accessible online at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca). The plan deftly addresses the most contentious issues regarding B.C. elections...

Via the Seattle Times.