[Marxism] Wisconsin Greens on Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Wisconsin Greens Endorse IRV Bill as a
Small First Step Toward Needed Election Reform

wisconsingreenparty.org

October 12, 2005

The Wisconsin Green Party today endorsed a bill to be introduced by 
Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) and Senator Mark Miller 
(D-Monona) that would allow municipalities the option of using Instant 
Runoff Voting (IRV) in local elections. Although the party endorsed the 
bill, they also expressed disappointment in the bill's limitations. 

"Representative Pocan's Bill applies only to local, non-partisan 
elections and is optional for communities," said Bob Poeschl. "Although 
this bill will enable communities to do a better job of electing the 
officials that most people want and save money at the same time by 
using IRV, it does nothing to address the so-called 'spoiler' issue 
that Democrats and Republicans complain about whenever a third party 
candidate enters a partisan race."

The Bill's limitations demonstrate once again that the establishment 
parties are not serious about creating an even playing field for 
candidates in partisan races that choose to express their democratic 
right to run on a party ticket of their choice. 

"Democratic and Republican party candidates and members continue to 
complain about third party candidates while doing nothing to reform 
partisan elections," said Poeschl. "Pocan's Bill should be amended to 
require Instant Runoff Voting in single-office partisan races such as 
governor and attorney general. To pass such legislation would restore 
Wisconsin's reputation as a leader in progressive reforms."

Even given the limitations of Pocan's Bill, Wisconsin Greens support it 
because it represents a step--albeit very small--in the direction of 
bringing sanity to elections across the state. 

Greens support a transition to proportional representation to further 
improve our undemocratic and ineffective "winner takes all" system of 
choosing legislative representatives. 

"We must adopt Proportional Representation (PR) for legislative 
elections to ensure the fair representation of all voters," said Jill 
Bussiere, Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Green Party. "Millions of Democrats 
in Republican areas and Republicans in Democratic areas are not 
represented in our system, and the majority of Greens, Libertarians, 
and other independents are not represented at any level of government. 
Our system should provide fair representation to all voters, in 
proportion to their numbers."

The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the Green Party of the 
United States, and stands on the four pillars of Social & Economic 
Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and Ecological Wisdom. For 
more information, visit http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org.

The Green Party of the United States' website is http://www.gp.org.

For more information on Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) visit 
http://www.instantrunoff.com/

For more information about Proportional Representation, visit 
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/prlib.htm

from Brian Shannon




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