#85 Jan/Feb 2007
The Washington Free Press Washington's Independent Journal of News, Ideas & Culture
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TOP STORIES

Instant Runoff Voting OKed in Pierce County
The same ballot reform wins in every contest nationwide
by Steven Hill

Is it safe to buy a home in Washington?
Home inspectors are not required to report toxic mold
by T. McCormick

15 myths about global warming
by Doug Collins
cartoons by George Jartos

FIRST WORDS

READER MAIL
Bushco Propaganda, Mountain Time, Impeachment
cartoon by David Logan

Oops!
defects corrected from last issue

NORTHWEST & BEYOND
Mass die-offs of alpine trees; American businesses protest labor rights in China

FREE THOUGHTS

Should we save or spend?
Politicians tell us to spend, economists tell us to save
by Jim Sullivan

Viaduct Politics
Seattle needs a "Transit + Streets" option
opinion by Cary Moon and Julie Parrett

War abroad, crime at home
Just why do crime stats rise when the country is at war?
by Doug Collins
cartoon by Andrew Wahl

HEALTH

The contaminated cigarette cartel
The major health risk is not tobacco, but industrial substances in cigarettes
article and cartoons by John Jonik

Medical Marijuana Scores Major Win
Court upholds California measures
from the ACLU
cartoon by John Jonik

MILITARY

Watada hearing tackles free speech for soldiers, relevance of truth
article and photo by Jeff Paterson, Courage to Resist

NASA plans moon base to control pathway to space
from Global Network

Keeping America safe
Themes from the Federal Register
by David Ortman

ENVIRONMENT

Reducing Extravagance
There are many ways--some surprising--to address climate change
by Doug Collins

Glaciers: coming or going?
by Doug Collins

FILM REVIEW
An Inconvenient Truth
review by Demian

TRASH TALK
Wintertime savings
by Dave & Lillian Brummet

MEDIA

MEDIA BEAT
Is the USA the center of the world?
by Norman Solomon
cartoon by George Jartos

Chavez wins Time reader vote, but is shunned by editors
by John Jonik

POLITICS

Let's have public funding for public elections in WA
opinion by Robert Stern, Washington Public Campaigns

Immigration reform: finally?
by Domenico Maceri
cartoon by George Jartos

RIGHT BRAIN

BOOK REVIEW
Spanning Washington
Historic Highway Bridges of the Evergreen State
review by Robert Pavlik

Two poems by Bob Markey
The Old Man and the Tree; Waiting for Bush's Other Shoe to Drop

Poems for progressives
Empire of the Senseless; Stomach Ache

NOTABLE QUOTES
from Bill Maher, Dwight Eisenhower, etc.

TOON-O-PHOBIA
Assorted cartoons from Scott Breeze, John Jonik, George Jartos, John Ambrosavage, Andrew Wahl, and David Logan

What is the Washington Free Press?

This paper is an effort--by many individual writers, artists, and editors--to bring to you information that often goes unreported in the corporate media (to see examples, just read this issue!). In a sense, this paper is a sort of childhood dream-come-true of what journalism should be: news in the public interest and opinion from the heart. This paper is a volunteer operation in which no one is making a profit or bowing to commercial pressures. It is not distributed in newsstands, but is instead distributed by volunteers who want to get underreported news out to their neighborhoods. This paper is not aligned with any political party or other specific interest, and you'll probably find articles written by middle-of-the-road muckrakers, by Chomskyites as well as traditionalists, and by generally unclassifiable individuals, as long as they write accessibly and with a spirit of public and planetary betterment. This paper is almost entirely dependent on you--the appreciative reader--for its existence, as there are always bills to pay for printing, mailing, and supplies. We thank those who continue to help over the years, and we ask that others please also help us get the news out by subscribing and donating to the paper, in order to help spread commitment and best wishes for a better world and a better region.

Doug Collins, coordinating editor

Instant Runoff Voting OKed for Pierce County

The same ballot reform wins in every contest nationwide

by Steven Hill

Political reforms such as redistricting reform, fusion and campaign finance reform have been floundering at the ballot box in recent years, rejected by voters in several states. But another political reform, instant runoff voting, has been quietly racking up impressive victories.

Instant runoff voting (IRV)--which allows voters to rank their candidates by first and second choice in a single race--made great strides forward during the November 7 elections. Voters in four different jurisdictions approved ballot measures for IRV. In California, voters in Oakland approved the idea with a landslide 69 percent of the vote, as did 56 percent of voters in Davis. In Minneapolis, a landslide 65 percent of voters passed an IRV ballot measure, as did 53 percent of voters in Pierce County, Washington.

IRV is now scheduled to be used for county races in Pierce County beginning in 2008, and will eliminate the legal need for the unpopular "pick-a-party primary" in those races.

What was interesting about the victories was that they happened in four very different locations. Oakland is a very diverse, working-class city; Minneapolis is a Midwestern values city; Pierce County is a mix of rural/suburban/urban areas with many independent-minded voters; and Davis is a small university town. Yet in every place IRV provided a unique solution to problems with representative government.

Instant runoff voting ensures that officeholders are elected with a majority of the vote in a single November election. No separate runoffs or primaries are necessary. Voters rank their candidates, and if their first choice can't win their vote goes to their second-ranked candidate as their runoff choice. Voters are liberated to vote for the candidates they really like without worrying about "spoilers." You can rank your favorite candidate first, knowing if she or he can't win, you haven't wasted your vote because it will go to your second choice.

IRV is catching on, whether on the liberal coasts or in heartland America. North Carolina recently passed groundbreaking legislation to use IRV to fill vacancies for statewide judicial offices and for local elections, and there's talk of using it for all statewide offices. Driving the interest in North Carolina are elections like the runoff in 2004 for the Democratic nominee for superintendent of public instruction, which cost $3.5 million and produced a 3 percent voter turnout.

Recently Louisiana, Arkansas and South Carolina, which already use two-round runoff elections for various races, began using IRV for their military/overseas voters because there is not enough time to mail a second ballot to them when a runoff election is required.

Colorado recently became the first state to use IRV to fill a vacancy in the state legislature. Takoma Park, Md., will use IRV for the first time in 2007 to elect the mayor and city council. Burlington, Vt., used IRV to elect its mayor last spring, spurring the introduction of bills in the state legislature for its use in statewide elections. Following the Minneapolis and Pierce County victories, the largest newspapers in Minnesota and Washington have called for IRV to be used to elect state offices.

On November 24, the Seattle Times editorial board came out in strong support of the Pierce County "experiment," saying that IRV "would eliminate costly primaries, change the dynamics of campaigning and give voters more choice." The Times editorial also called voting with IRV "simple and intuitive."

San Francisco voters launched the IRV movement in 2002 when they passed it for local elections, and San Francisco has used it now for three elections. Several exit polls have demonstrated that San Francisco voters across all racial, age and economic lines like ranking their ballots and understand IRV. Since San Francisco's trailblazing voyage, nine ballot measures for IRV have been passed by voters, often with landslide margins.

The movement toward use of IRV is gaining momentum because it answers a real need. It's one of the best solutions to public frustration with unresponsive and unaccountable government. IRV makes voters feel like their votes count because you are not stuck always choosing the lesser of two evils. You can cast your vote for your favorite candidate, knowing if she or he can't win, you haven't thrown your vote away on a spoiler. It opens politics to new candidates and their ideas, increasing political debate, and even discourages negative campaigning as candidates try to win rankings from the supporters of their opponents.

For all these reasons, instant runoff voting is now the hot reform to watch as Americans grapple with how to improve our democracy and make elected officials more accountable to We the Voters.

 

Steven Hill is director of the political reform program of the New America Foundation (www.NewAmerica.net) and author of "10 Steps to Repair American Democracy" (www.10steps.net)


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