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

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 of taxpayer dollars and help raise voter turnout. IRV allows voters to rank their choices, in order of preference (1-2-3). This way, if your first choice cannot win, your vote will go to your next choice.

Please join the New America Foundation/Political Reform Program and the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable for an engaging discussion on political reform and its impact on communities of color.

Participants

• Earl Ofari Hutchinson
  President, Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable
  Author, The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order

• Gautam Dutta
  Deputy Director, Political Reform Program
  New America Foundation