Signature idea from New America is Adopted by Voters in Four Cities, Two in California

(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 third choices for office. Oakland overwhelmingly supported the measure by 68% of the returns, meaning voters will use Instant Runoff Voting for all local offices in November 2008. The Davis measure was an advisory recommendation. Elsewhere, voters in Minneapolis passed their ballot measure with 65% support. And in Pierce County, Washington, voters supported the move to IRV for their partisan county elections with 54% of the vote.

New America staff Lynne Serpe and Steven Hill played a key role as advisors to several of these campaigns, giving workshops on how to educate the public and create educational materials.

Click here to read the full release.