This is an archive of a past election.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/sn/ for current information.
Sonoma County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
Smart Voter

Local Currencies, and Instant Runoff Voting: Two Ways to Improve the World

By Michael J. Sandler

Candidate for Green Party Member County Council At-Large-Grn; County of Sonoma

This information is provided by the candidate
Local currencies and Instant Runoff Voting will improve our political economy.
Local currencies have this basic concept. Instead of a U.S. dollar, we have a Sonoma County (or Marin County, or Ithaca, New York) dollar. The money stays local, supporting local business and employment, while keeping employment high, and building community. How does it build community? People get to know each other when they make trades with each other. To find out more, check http://www.transaction.net/money/community/index.html

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), is a way of voting. Instead of checking one box when you vote, you number your candidates in order of preference- 1,2,3,4, etc. In IRV, you aren't limited to just one choice, although only one person will win if it is a race for one seat, but it lets you vote for an "outsider" such as an environmentalist, without "wasting" your vote. It also solves the problem of "spoilers" which 3rd parties are seen as by some. This was a big problem for Greens in the 2000 election, but hopefully the Dems are learning that an electoral reform can prevent this split among liberals so that people who agree on issues can support each other's candidates. For more information check http://www.fairvoteca.org/ or http://www.cvd.org, the Center for Voting and Democracy.

Next Page: Position Paper 2

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
March 2004 Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter


ca/sn Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 18, 2004 18:06
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.