Lynne Serpe

This Wednesday's [Los Angeles City Council's Rules and Elections Committee] meeting may be different because the committee is going to discuss instant runoff voting. If you're tired of the endless electioneering in the city, this is a good thing...As attentive readers may recall, this column believes that perpetually low turnout in city elections is due, in part, to the city's insistence on holding elections in March of odd-numbered years. Any wonder that turnout in this year's election was… more

The sound of hissing air leaking out of Los Angeles democracy is unmistakable. A check-in at one precinct by 2:00 p.m. on election day revealed that only two voters out of the 1,073 registered in that precinct had turned out to vote. By the close of the polls, it was up to four. This makes the 10% overall turnout in the March 6 elections -- already the lowest in decades -- look like a democratic flood.

Each of the 122,436 ballots… more

The Alternative Voting Systems forum will look at a range of voting system methods, including the current numbered seat system used by Pasadena Unified School District as well as the geographic districts used by Pasadena City Council. Speakers will present information about alternatives such as instant runoff voting and choice voting, systems which allow voters to rank their candidates in order of preference (1,2,3). Attendees are encouraged to fill out and bring a copy of The Pasadena Weekly's more

The City of Los Angeles currently uses a two-round runoff system to elect its mayor, city attorney, city council and controller. One election is held in early March, and if no candidate wins a majority of the vote, a second election between the top two finishers is held in May. Voter participation is usually low, with only 10 percent of registered voters participating in the March 6, 2007 election. In addition, LA taxpayers pay millions of dollars for… more

The conference, which was co-sponsored by  the New America Foundation and CommonSense California, explored the emerging field of deliberative democracy, which uses tools such as citizen dialogues, deliberative polling and citizen's assemblies to engage regular citizens in policy issues. Deliberative democracy methods seek to break through partisan gridlock, overcome special interest domination, and rekindle a sense of civic ownership in the conduct of government.

The conference brought together leading policy makers and opinion leaders, provided a space to meet with… more

(SACRAMENTO, CA) -- Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), a signature idea from the New America Foundation to give voters more influence and more choices in elections, continued to gain favor in California and elsewhere as four cities strongly approved November 7 ballot measures supporting the idea.

In California, where San Francisco became the state's first Instant Runoff Voting city in 2004, voters in the cities of Oakland and Davis approved the idea, which would allow voters to rank their first, second, and… more

The San Diego Elections Task Force, a volunteer committee created by the City of San Diego in order to research various elections reforms, began discussing IRV on Friday, September 29. Lynne Serpe, Deputy Director of the Political Reform Program, gave a 90-minute presentation on the possibility of using IRV in San Diego elections.

A PDF version of the full PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded below. For more information on IRV or the Political… more

The conviction of Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham over serious ethics violations has left a bad taste in many voters' mouths. Now taxpayers are about to waste scarce tax dollars on an election to fill the vacancy.

Because none of the 18 candidates in April's special election received more than 50 percent of the votes cast, North County voters must trudge to the polls a second time for a June 6 runoff election to determine the winner -- who… more

Lynne Serpe is a former Deputy Director of the Political Reform Program. Ms. Serpe has been a political educator, organizer and campaign consultant. Prior to joining New America, she was a consultant to alumni of British Columbia's Citizens Assembly and other reformers when they were preparing for their referendum on… more