Instant runoff voting wins big in Oakland
Laura Wells reflects on lessons learned from the campaign
By Laura Wells
Green Party of California

	Laura Wells on her front porch, which served as headquarters for Oakland IRV campaign literature

The Green campaign committee achieved its first goal of "win", and second goal of "win big" with Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) passing by 69 percent of the vote in Oakland, California, November 2006. 

There were many reasons IRV won, including a great line-up of advisors and activists, and IRV being "an idea whose time has come." There were also a number of basic principles I will list as lessons I learned along the way. 

Sometimes it seems like you're wasting your time, but maybe not! 
In March, I attended a press conference on the steps of Berkeley city hall before a council meeting, where people tried to get their already voter-approved IRV implemented. The press conference was a washout. However, before the meeting I was able to connect with a group of long-time election reform activists from the League of Women Voters and Com­mon Cause, who acted as core advisors for the Oakland committee.

Lobby city hall, or gather signatures?
In June, we were considering if we could gather signatures to put IRV on the ballot, when Nancy Nadel, progressive city council member and "borderline Green" as she phrased it, lost for mayor. She then said, "I'm willing to sponsor a proposal to ask the Oakland City Council to put IRV on the November ballot." Although sometimes the best route is to gather sig­natures, we had a chance to do it through lobbying city hall, so we went for it.

"80 percent of success is showing up," to quote Woody Allen. 
Often I think what the opposition has going for it is staying power and the ability to cause the rest of us to give up. In the IRV campaign, Greens had staying power, and they knew it. To get the Oak­land city council to put IRV on the ballot, we contacted our networks. I sent emails to Oakland Greens, made follow up calls to people in key districts, and Greens responded. They telephoned, emailed, wrote, spoke to city council members at street fairs, attended meetings, and filled out speaker cards. We urged our elected officials to "let the voters decide!" Dozens of us attended every Rules Com­mittee meeting - four in total, populated with those most opposed to IRV - until they finally placed IRV on the agenda of the last city council meeting before summer recess. 

Know the pressure points, and keep the pressure on. 
Again, they needed to know we were not going away. One council member, a pivotal fence sitter, stated wearily in a meeting, "I've gotten all your calls." Finally, at 2:00 a.m., at that last city council meeting, our fence sitter grumpily agreed, and IRV was placed on the November ballot. 

Bottom-up or top-down? 
Early on we focused on getting endorsed by congresswoman Barbara Lee. She is on record as favoring IRV for partisan races, but some people around her (including mayor-to-be Ron Dellums) had concerns about local races. What convinced her to endorse IRV was that well-connected IRV committee members got local elected officials, democratic clubs, and community organizations to endorse. Ultimately, she had to go with her base. This was bottom-up; change can also happen top-down, when leaders endorse and the base follows. 

Should Greens work with other political parties? 
IRV had endorsements and organizing support from Democrats, Greens, Liber­tarians, Peace and Freedom, and Repub­licans. I advocate working with Demo­crats and Republicans to open up our elections and repair our democracy. 

How will we create a better world?
We don't know exactly what will happen, but one thing I'm sure of is that everything we are doing now - in the direction of a better world - will be of use. Will IRV solve all problems for Greens or democracy? No, but it is an important piece. I am sure IRV winning in Oakland will help democracy improve in the U.S.A., and help create a better world.

For more information on IRV: www.oaklandirv.org, and www.fairvote.org/irv/ 
Or the classic manual "The Candidate's Handbook" by Harvey Yorke.

Laura Wells served on the executive committee of the "IRV for Oakland" campaign while running for State Controller. She will continue working with the coalition to ensure that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters implements IRV.

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