[Winona Online Democracy]
From: Roy Nasstrom
To: Craig Brooks ; WOD
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2007 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Winona] Instant Runoff Voting Legal Challenges
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I'd like to see IRV tried. No doubt, however, it would be more useful
district-wide than within sub-areas of the district, particularly those areas
in which running for office is not an attractive option for the vast majority
of citizens. Still, IRV rules could be instituted even if they did not become
functional for many areas.
The issue of district-wide representation instead of representation by
geographic areas does present some serious problems. District voting might make
some people feel disenfranchised because their particular interests could be
submerged.
Historically, district-wide local elections became popular after the 1890s
as a means of eliminating the political corruption so common in big cities.
Many sub-districts were simply agents of political machines that could easily
manipulate the populations. But by the 1960s, district-wide representation came
under attack as racist and class-based, ensuring that the upper classes or at
least the white population could continue to dominate politics in cities and
school districts.
Consequently, representation by geographic areas regained popularity. Now,
for reasons too long to go into here, there seems to be a growth in calls for
district-wide elections again in some big cities.
Although the issue of corruption seems insignificant in Winona, the issue
of blocking out some citizens' views cannot be ignored. Voting statistics in
the county clearly demonstrate that different views do prevail. Parts of the
city reveal different perspectives. And the urban-rural difference is notable
in school district and county elections. I suspect that many rural people might
vigorously oppose any attempt to eliminate representation of particular
geographic areas even if many urban people might feel that the wider
constituency would produce results thay consider more beneficial.
Roy Nasstrom
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