Gautam Dutta: All Publications, Events and Press

A Constitutional Approach to Fixing California | New America Media

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:07:00 -0400

... affect public policy for the whole state and how it is governed,” said Gautam Dutta, deputy director for political reform at the New America Foundation. ...

Instant Runoff Voting Could Streamline the Long Beach Balloting Process | Long Beach Press-Telegram

Cecille Isidro — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 18:56:00 -0400

Gautam Dutta of the New America Foundation, an election reform group that has been pushing for the council to consider IRV, refutes these criticisms. ...

Instant Runoff Voting | Press-Telegram (California)

Erin Drankoski — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:12:00 -0400

Gautam Dutta's comments on IRV in Long Beach have been published The Press-Telegram. ... Original Article

Instant Runoffs Would Reduce Election Costs

Cecille Isidro — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:32:00 -0400

California faces a crater-size, $24 billion deficit - and we're about to throw away millions more on three elections we don't need. But here's the good news: If we adopt Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV, for special elections, we can save that amount and more.

With IRV, taxpayers could save nearly $2 million July 14 (fittingly, Bastille Day).

Runaway, Budget-Busting Runoffs

Cecille Isidro — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 08:30:00 -0400

This year, California state and local governments will spend close to $10 million on at least three elections we do not need. That makes no sense amidst California’s and our nation’s brutal recession.

New America Foundation Commends LA County Supervisor on Call for IRV

Elizabeth Wu — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:22:00 -0400

Los Angeles, CA -- Today, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas called for Los Angeles County to look into using instant runoff voting (IRV) for future special elections in order to increase voter turnout and lower election costs.

Gautam Dutta in the Long Beach Press-Telegram | 'Long Beach City Clerk Warns Council of Voter Fatigue'

Communications — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:11:00 -0400

...Gautam Dutta, deputy director of the Political Reform Program for the non-profit New America Foundation, who was invited by Herrera to speak at the committee meeting, told the council that voter turnout increased 168 percent in San Francisco after initiating instant runoff voting.

Dutta said the voting system helps avoid the Ralph Nader or Ross Perot effect, when voters may support a third-party candidate, but don't vote for the candidate because that person is unlikely to win. Similarly, voters who support a long-shot candidate wouldn't be at risk of taking votes away from another acceptable candidate, thus placing the person they least support in office, he said.

"You know, rest assured that if that person doesn't make it and gets knocked out, your vote will automatically go to your second choice. ... That I think would make voters feel a lot more at ease about the voting process," Dutta said... LINK

The Groundhog Day Election In Los Angeles

Ron Tang — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:22:00 -0400

After a fiercely fought primary election, no winner emerged in last week's election in the LA County Supervisor race between City Councilmember Bernard Parks and State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas. With barely one-sixth of all voters participating, millions of dollars spent, and a race that turned increasingly negative, neither Ridley-Thomas nor Parks could muster a majority (50 percent plus one) in the nine-candidate field. As a result, both candidates must now duke it out for another five months until the November general election -- leaving voters in the crossfire of more mudslinging and personal attacks.

According to some political consultants and politicians, runoff elections are good for democracy. In theory, they give voters a “second look” to size up the top two finalists. But in all honesty, how much more will voters learn about Councilmember Parks and State Senator Ridley-Thomas that we don’t already know? What will we learn from another five months of attack mailers and sound bites?

One things we will definitely learn is how low mudslinging campaigning can go. To date, the two million residents of the sprawling 2nd District -- which stretches from Venice to Koreatown to South Los Angeles to the City of Carson -- have been subjected to increasingly vitriolic charges and countercharges. And that’s not counting the additional millions of dollars spent on this race by so-called independent expenditure committees.

This is not the first time that Los Angeles voters have had to endure nasty, negative and expensive runoff elections. Previously we saw it in the mayoral races in 2001 and 2005, in some city council districts, as well as a community college district runoff in 2007. In each race, voters were hammered with attack ads telling us what’s wrong with the future winners -- undermining our faith in our leaders.

Adding insult to injury, LA taxpayers shell out millions of dollars to pay for the administering of these runoff elections. The May 2007 runoff cost $5 million for an election where only 6 percent of voters participated, a 40 percent dropoff from the March primary. Some precincts had no voters -- yet taxpayers paid $40 per voter for this wasteful election.

Fortunately, there is a better way to elect our local leaders -- it is called instant runoff voting (IRV). It works much like our current runoff system, but it elects the majority winner in a single election, thereby saving millions in taxes. It also has the potential to boost voter turnout, and reduce the negative campaigning. Here’s how it works.

With the current method, voters who did not support Parks or Ridley-Thomas in June will pick their second choice this November. With IRV, voters indicate their second choice at the same time as their first choice by ranking up to three candidates, 1-2-3.

If any candidate wins a majority of first rankings, the election is over (just like now). But if no candidate garners a majority of first rankings, the instant runoff begins. If your first choice cannot win, your vote will go immediately to your second choice. In this way, the runoff rankings are used to determine the majority winner. It’s like the current runoff system, but you get it over in one election.

With IRV, voters, candidates and organizations can focus on a single election. According to the Los Angeles City Clerk, IRV will save taxpayers $8 to $9 million each election that a citywide runoff is not held.

Moreover, by reducing the number of elections, IRV will reduce voter fatigue and help boost voter turnout. It also has the potential to reduce negative campaigning. Other places using IRV have found that a winning candidate may need to receive second rankings from the supporters of his or her competitors. As a result, candidates have a greater incentive to find common ground and forge coalitions instead of attacking each other.

IRV has already been adopted by a growing number of cities, including Oakland, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, Cary, North Carolina and San Francisco. In San Francisco, IRV has been used in four elections since 2004. One study found that IRV boosted citywide voter turnout by 168 percent, and by 300 percent in the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods. Another study found that 87 percent of San Francisco voters understood IRV, a measure that cut across all racial lines.

IRV already has considerable support in Los Angeles, and has been endorsed by a broad coalition that includes the League of Women Voters, Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), voting-rights groups, some neighborhood councils, and noteworthy leaders like former Mayor Richard Riordan, labor leader Dolores Huerta and California State Controller John Chiang.

Voters must approve a charter amendment to adopt IRV for local runoff elections. If the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa act to put IRV on the November ballot, voters will finally have the chance to get rid of wasteful, low turnout runoffs for all Los Angeles city, school board, and community college elections. But time is running short. For this to happen, the City Council's Rules Committee (chaired by Council President Eric Garcetti) must pass an IRV bill by this Wednesday (June 25) -- and the full Council must approve it by July 2.

Like Bill Murray’s character in “Groundhog Day”, voters desperately need relief from having to sit through endless reruns of the same election. It’s time to kickstart our democracy -- end voter fatigue, save millions of taxpayer dollars, reduce mudslinging campaigns -- by adopting IRV.

Top L.A. Labor Group Embraces Election Reform

Communications — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:29:00 -0400

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO has endorsed a critical reform for Los Angeles elections: Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). The County Federation, the second largest chartered Labor Council of AFL-CIO in the country, represents over 350 unions and over 800,000 workers.

California State Controller John Chiang Endorses LA Election Reform

Communications — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:16:00 -0400

Los Angeles, CA -- California State Controller John Chiang has endorsed a critical election reform for Los Angeles: Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Chiang, California's top fiscal officer and highest ranking Asian American elected official, announced his support at a City Hall panel discussion held today at Los Angeles City Hall's Bradley Tower.

Controller Chiang noted that IRV will help boost voter turnout by reducing voter fatigue: "I think part of the fatigue with the American electoral system is with the runoffs -- with the endless electoral cycles where people do not get time to govern and people don't get time to participate."

Gary Toebben, President and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, also spoke on the panel at City Hall. Toebben added that IRV would help businesses combat a different type of fatigue: "I can assure you that the business community gets fatigue around elections, because people are always asking for money. And when you have two elections, they ask twice." Last month, the L.A. Chamber's Executive Board voted unanimously to endorse IRV.

Panelist Sylvia Scott-Hayes, President of the Los Angeles Community College District, added that IRV is "good for the young, good for the senior generation" because it will make it easier for them to vote.

Currently, if no candidate receives a majority (50 percent plus one) in the first round, a runoff election is required for the elected offices of the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Unified School District, and Los Angeles Community College District.

Last year, barely 6 percent of registered voters cast a ballot for the May runoff election (Los Angeles Community College District). That election alone cost taxpayers $5.5 million -- over $40 per voter.

Another panelist, former Los Angeles Councilmember Richard Alatorre, noted that low voter participation weakens our democracy: "It's a sad commentary, in a city like LA, when someone gets elected with only 12 percent of voters taking part."

By allowing voters to rank their choices (1-2-3), IRV will eliminate the need for costly runoff elections. In this manner, IRV will help solve two chronic problems that plague Los Angeles voters and taxpayers: voter fatigue and wasteful, expensive runoff elections.

To place IRV on the November ballot, the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor Villaraigosa must take action by July 2.

At the panel, Los Angeles Community College Board Trustee Mona Field, a professor of political science, noted that IRV would help reduce negative campaigning, as each candidate would try to become the second choice of their competitors' supporters: "You simply can't trash other people if you want their voters to consider you as second best."

In addition, IRV has won the support of a broad base of elected and civic leaders, including: United Farm Workers Union Co-Founder Dolores Huerta; Liza White, President, League of Women Voters of Los Angeles; Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti; Los Angeles City Councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Jose Huizar, Bill Rosendahl and Ed Reyes; Los Angeles Controller Laura Chick; former Los Angeles Councilmembers Richard Alatorre and Jackie Goldberg; California Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu; California State Senators Mark Ridley-Thomas and Jack Scott; Los Angeles Community College District President Sylvia Scott-Hayes; Los Angeles Community College Trustees Georgia Mercer, Mona Field and Nancy Pearlman; Mark Drummond, Chancellor, Los Angeles Community College District;

John Emerson,* President, Capital Guardian Trust Company, Personal Investment Management; William C. Velasquez Institute President Antonio Gonzalez; Brendan Huffman, President & CEO of the Valley Industry & Commerce Association (VICA); Anthony Thigpenn, President, SCOPE; Holly Fujie,* Governor, State Bar of California; Kathay Feng, Executive Director, California Common Cause. (An asterisk indicates that an individual's affiliation is for identification purposes only.)

Organizations that support IRV include: League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, Southwest Voters Registration Education Project, National Latino Congreso, Asian American Action Fund, African American Voter Registration Education Project, UNITE HERE (Local 11), AFT College Faculty Guild (1521), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE), American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, San Fernando Valley Alliance for Democracy. A full endorser list is available at IRVinLA.org/endorsements.

Monday's City Hall panel was covered by both the Los Angeles Times (http://www.irvinla.org/latest_news/la-times-blog-supports-irv) and Southern California Public Radio (http://www.irvinla.org/latest_news/socal-public-radio-spotlights-irv).

For further information, contact: Mr. Gautam Dutta, Esq. (213.480.0994; dutta@newamerica.net).

About the New America Foundation

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, post-partisan public policy institute whose purpose is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the forefront of our nation's public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy solutions that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Headquartered in our nation's capital, New America also has offices in California and New York.

Gautam Dutta on KPPC Radio | 'Instant Runoff' Proposal Would Do Away With Some Runoff Elections in LA

Communications — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:59:00 -0400

(KPPC)--The idea of "instant runoff" voting appears to be gaining steam in Los Angeles. The L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce, labor unions and the League of Women Voters want change: a proposal would eliminate runoff elections in non-partisan races in several categories. KPCC's Frank Stoltze reports. Frank Stoltze: In their case for instant runoff voting, advocates point to last year's runoff election between two candidates for the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. Gautam Dutta: Only six percent showed up to vote. In fact, in some precincts, nobody showed up to vote. That election cost five million dollars, and that's a cost of $40 per voter... LINK to Interview

L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce Endorses Key Election Reform

Communications — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:55:00 -0400

Contact: Mr. Gautam Dutta, Esq. (213.480.0994; dutta@newamerica.net)

Los Angeles CA -- The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a critical election reform: Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles, and key labor unions like UNITE HERE have also endorsed IRV.

CA Event: Instant Runoff Voting and Minorities in L.A.

Communications — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:00:00 -0400

A New America Event
04/19/2008 - 10:00am

Currently, Los Angeles' local elections run on a wasteful, two-round election system. Last May, only 6 percent of voters turned out for the runoff election for the Los Angeles Community College Districts -- an election that cost taxpayers $5 million, or $40 per voter. For this reason, the LA City Council is seriously considering Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for local elections. By combining the general and runoff election into 1 single election, IRV will save millions… more

Gautam Dutta Named Deputy Director of Political Reform Program

Communications — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 08:06:00 -0400

(SACRAMENTO, CA, August 1, 2007) — The New America Foundation is pleased to announce the hiring of Gautam Dutta as Deputy Director for the Political Reform Program. Mr. Dutta, a passionate proponent of political reform, will continue his advocacy of New America's signature reforms such as instant runoff voting, proportional voting and redistricting reform.

"As an attorney, civic leader, and Los Angeles Commissioner, Gautam has the right combination of skills, experience, leadership and passion for political reform that we were looking for in our Deputy Director," says Program Director Steven Hill. “We are thrilled to have him on the New America team, and advancing political reform in Los Angeles.”

Mr. Dutta is a Yale and Georgetown-educated lawyer with a strong professional, civic, and government background. He has been Tax Counsel to California State Controller John Chiang, an Enforcement Attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Law Clerk for a federal judge in Washington, DC. In 2006, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed him as a commissioner on the Los Angeles Industrial Development Authority.

He serves on the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union-Southern California and the South Asian Bar Association, and has served as Chair of the South Asian Bar Association Public Interest Foundation. In Washington, DC, he was President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association Educational Fund, as well as Vice Chair of former Mayor Anthony Williams’ Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Yale Political Monthly, and is fluent in Spanish, German, Hindi, and Bengali.

About the New America Foundation

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, post-partisan public policy institute whose purpose is to bring exceptionally promising new voices and new ideas to the fore of our nation’s public discourse. Relying on a venture capital approach, the Foundation invests in outstanding individuals and policy solutions that transcend the conventional political spectrum. Headquartered in our nation’s capital, New America also has offices in California and New York. For more information, please see the links below.