LA Daily News Spotlights IRV

This morning, the Los Angeles Daily News spotlighted Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), when it printed an opinion piece written by New America’s Gautam Dutta:

End L.A.’s losing streak with Instant Runoff Voting WHEN it comes to elections, Angelenos are mired in a vicious losing streak. Take last week’s City Council runoff election between Paul Krekorian and Christine Essel. While Krekorian won the two-person runoff, thousands of people actually lost: Essel, Los Angeles voters, and Los Angeles taxpayers.

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The race rapidly became a political consultant’s dream. In the second most expensive City Council race ever, Essel and her allies spent a staggering $156 per voter for the runoff. In contrast, Krekorian and his allies spent only $28 per voter. Although Krekorian got great bang for the buck, Los Angeles taxpayers didn’t. Indeed, the city had to shell out a whopping $1 million of tax dollars for this runoff election, at a time when Los Angeles is nearing an ominous $1 billion budget deficit. In theory, a runoff election allows voters to learn more about the top two candidates. Unfortunately, that’s not what happens in real life. In fact, we learned nothing new about Krekorian or Essel during the runoff. Instead, residents were buffeted with a barrage of attack ads and mailers.

As Dutta’s piece explains, IRV will save tax dollars, reduce voter fatigue, and curb the influence of money and negativity on LA’s elections. You can read the full article here.