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What If Neither Candidate Gets 50

Percent?
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2010

STEVEN TAVARES

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SAN LEANDRO CITY CHARTER CALLS FOR A WINNER WITH

SIMPLE MAJORITY RUNOFF COULD BE POSSIBLE
By Steven Tavares

Today

So many variables still exist in deciding whether San Leandro Mayor Tony
Santos wins re-election or Stephen Cassidy pulls off the big upset. The registrar
says 121,000 voter-by-mail ballots still need to be counted, primarily from
voters who delivered their envelopes to the polls Tuesday instead of sending
them through the mail. Nobody seems to have a handle on which candidates
Councilwoman Joyce Starosciak's 23 percent votes may leaned towards as
their second choice, but here's an electoral possibility sure to rankle residents.
With Santos and Cassidy nearly deadlocked with 35 percent of the vote, there is
a remote chance neither could break the 50 percent threshold. If this occurs,
San Leandro could be in uncharted territory and risk having the experiment of
Ranked Choice Voting blow up in its collective face.

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The problem is the City Charter calls for a winner with a simple majority of the
vote. RCV is suppose to deliver this result in a single election, instead of a
costly primary and general election race. The mayor and city council were sold
on the idea of fiscal responsibility in regard to election costs. Santos said
Wednesday he would call for an special runoff election early next year if no
candidate receives a simple majority.

Terminal . But he's a Giants fair weather

Proponents of RCV never said the voting system was perfect, but two
peculiarities they said rarely occur may decide this race for mayor. In San
Francisco's seven years using RCV the candidate who won the most first-place
votes went on to victory in every single race. Don Perata's campaign for mayor
in Oakland touted this statistic yesterday, but the difference between that race
and San Leandro's is the former State Senate Pro-Tem holds a double-digit lead
in the first round over Oakland Councilwoman Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan.
Conversely, through Thursday afternoon, Cassidy holds only a slim 66-vote
advantage over Santos.

#SD09 | @BettyYee2014 says

In the meantime, the city waits, but its notoriously fickle residents, may chose
to reconsider RCV if this race veers into additional cost and controversy.
Posted in: Don Perata , IRV , J e a n Q u a n , Joyce Starosciak , O a k l a n d , RCV ,

fan.
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Steven Tavares
@eastbaycitizen

@Skinner4Senate is for me. State

controller announces endorsement
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Steven Tavares
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Jean Quan appointee Michael Colbruno
is the new president of the
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#Oakland

Rebecca Kaplan , Stephen Cassidy , T o n y S a n t o s

1h

CLICK HERE!

Steven Tavares

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7 comments :
1h
A. Rose says:
November 4, 2010 at 7:13 PM

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I'm glad that the RCV is showing to be a farce. Thanks to the Chamber of
Commerce and Maltester hacks who hoisted this crap on the dumbasses in this
City in 2000.

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FEATURED POST
Anonymous says:
November 4, 2010 at 8:17 PM

The Registra of Voters should have done robo calls to all votes explaining how
IRV works.A thirty second call would have done the job. Most voters didn't
understand how it worked and didn't have enough time to evaluate who their

Catharine Baker wanted to head off

a vote on four bills to regulate
assault weapons

second and third choice should be. They could also do a robo call a week or so
before the registration deadline. Most people according to registration experts
know when election day is but few know the deadline date which could boost
registration and participation.
Reply

Anonymous says:
November 5, 2010 at 8:09 AM

RCV rarely provides a majority once the complex algorithm is run.

Typically, more people voted against the winner than for them, just like a plurality.
This short video for voters explains why:
http://tinyurl.com/RCVMajority
Reply

Anonymous says:
November 5, 2010 at 8:16 AM

Didn't the EastBayCitizen write that "RCV May Aid Incumbent Mayor in the Fall"
late January?
Santos was a big proponent of RCV, even having a lobbyist in his hotel room
during the council discussion to help him with his talking points!

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Anonymous says:
November 5, 2010 at 8:26 AM

Cassidy supported it as well and spoke at the city council on its behalf.It
prevents the cost of a run off for campaigns as well as tax payers.Less global
warming since it will mean less hot air.
Reply

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Anonymous says:
November 5, 2010 at 9:33 AM

The San Leandro Charter says 50% plus one, but in the event this doesn't occur,
the City Council shall establish a run-off system to determine the person elected.
When the technology became available, the Council by ordinance, could adopt
instant run-off voting instead of a special election. This is what occurred.
Whoever is ahead after this election is certified by the registrar of voters, wins the
Mayor's race.
Reply

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Anonymous says:
November 7, 2010 at 8:24 PM

"Instant" Run-off is no such entity. A runoff is where the top two vote getters are
able to compete for votes. Instant run-off is tantamount to saying well I like A
more than B but I'm too stupid to figure out what I want.
Reply

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