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Vancouver Columbian
Legislature: Moeller pushing instant runoff
bill
By Don Jenkins
February 14, 2004
A Clark County legislator said Friday that he hopes
hard-earned experience will help him prod through the state Senate a
bill allowing Vancouver to experiment with instant runoff voting.
"I'm much more hopeful now," said state Rep. Jim
Moeller, D-Vancouver. "I know a little more about the process. I'm
going to work it harder on the Senate side."
The House late Thursday voted 69-26 to approve House
Bill 2669, which would let Vancouver be the one and only city to
elect council members through instant runoff voting.
Used sparingly in the United States and not currently
authorized by Washington law, the method lets voters rank candidates
in order of preference.
Vancouver voters amended the city charter in 1999 to
allow council members to be elected that way. The city needs
permission from the Legislature before it can make a final decision
on whether to move ahead.
The House passed similar legislation a year ago, but
the bill faltered in the Senate, failing to win approval from that
body's Government Operations and Elections Committee.
"I really didn't know how to go about working the bill
last year because I was new," said Moeller, who took office last
year.
This year's legislation would apply to Vancouver only
and authorize the city to test the system for five years.
Clark County lawmakers Tom Mielke, R-Battle Ground;
Marc Boldt, R-Hockinson; Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama; and Bruce Chandler,
R-Sunnyside, voted against the bill.
"It allows a second or third choice to win," Mielke
said.
Under instant runoff voting, all candidates for a
nonpartisan city council position would appear on the general
election ballot, eliminating the primary.
Voters would rank candidates. If no candidate won a
majority of "first-choice" votes, the last-place finisher would be
eliminated and the "second-choice" votes of that candidate awarded.
The process goes on until a candidate gains a majority
of votes. |
