Who We Are
Fair Vote Lowell is a group of concerned citizens. under the leadership of ONE Lowell, seeking to bring a more fair, representative voting system to the residents of Lowell, Massachusetts. Below is a Q & A that will help you learn more about us.
Q: Why change the current voting system?
A: The current voting system, called at-large, winner-take-all, allows for as few as 51% of voters to win all 9 city council seats. Up to 49% of voters can feel that their vote doesn’t count, so they will eventually become discouraged and stop voting. In fact, in the last 10 years Lowell has seen a 26% decline in voter turnout. Second, this system leads to under representation of minorities, women and lower income neighborhoods. Finally, it is very expensive for new candidates to run a winning campaign. In 2005 the average cost for first time winning candidates was $31,649 and in 2007 that increased to $42,682. Lowell could be losing out on intelligent, talented candidates because of the cost to campaign.
Q: What are other cities doing?
A: In 1967 the federal government banned this method of voting for federal elections because it was found to discriminate against minority candidates. Since then, the trend has been to change this type of local system in cities around the commonwealth to systems that provide for better representation. Some cities, such as Worcester, changed its system via a charter commission. However, other cities, such as Lawrence and Chelsea, were forced to change their systems due to lawsuits. Among the ten largest cities in Massachusetts, only Lowell and Fall River continue to use this type of voting system.
Q: What change is being proposed?
A: While most cities in the commonwealth have adopted a mix of district representation and at-large, a proportional representation (choice voting) system, such as used in Cambridge, seems to make the most sense for us. Proportional representation does not create districts and so the disadvantages of that system, such as divisive campaigns, influence of political “machinery” and the possibility of gerrymandering are excluded.
Q: How does proportional representation (choice voting) work?
A: Under the current system, candidates need a large number of votes from across many city neighborhoods in order to win. Under proportional representation, candidates can focus on a distinct constituency, that can be geographic or from similar interests, without sacrificing their ability to campaign across the entire city. Voters rank their preferences, so that fewer votes are needed to win. That way, minority candidates who do a good job appealing to their constituency, have a better chance of winning a seat on the council than under the current voting system.
Q: What would change for voters?
A: Currently, all voters can vote for up to nine candidates for city council. All votes have equal weight, so voters in Lowell, on average, only vote for five candidates and throw away their other four votes. They throw their votes away because they are worried that by using all their votes they can be hurting the chances of the candidates they like the most. Under choice voting, the fairest proportional representation system, voters rank the candidates, with the first choice rank being given more weight than second choice, second choice has more weight than third choice, and so on. This way, voters can rank as many candidates as they want without a lower choice having a negative impact on a higher ranked candidate. With this system, votes aren’t wasted!
Q: How are votes counted under choice voting?
A: Before counting gets underway, a threshold is determined for the number of votes that a candidate needs to win. The threshold is determined by both the number of seats and the number of voters who turn out to vote. The votes for first choice are then counted. If a candidate hits the threshold, (has enough votes to win), then they are declared elected. If they go over the threshold number of votes required to win, these extra votes then go to the next choice candidate on the ballot so that every vote counts! This transfer of extra votes is done such that a proportion of all second choice votes are transferred, which ensures fairness. If transferring of extra votes does not result in a candidate reaching the threshold, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and all of his/her next choice votes are distributed. This counting continues until all nine seats are filled.
Q: Will this change be difficult for voters?
A: Not at all. The only difference on the ballot is that voters rank their candidates rather than simply voting or not voting for a given candidate. Most voters find it easy to understand.
Q: Will this be difficult for poll workers?
A: Not at all. The only change is on the ballot, where voters rank candidates rather than giving them a vote or leaving the circle next to a candidate’s name blank. All other procedures remain the same.
Q: What will it cost the city to make the change?
A: Very little. The city of Lowell already owns the optical scanning voting machines necessary for Choice Voting. Only about $50 per machine plus a license fee would be needed to make the change.
Q: Has Lowell ever considered something like this before?
A: Lowell has a long history of making changes in the voting system. From 1884 to 1911 Lowell had district representation. From 1911 to 1924, Lowell had an at-large system similar to what is used today. In 1924 Lowell adopted plan B, with a strong mayor, but changed this in 1942 to choice voting, which lasted until 1957. In 1957 it changed again to the present system.
Q: If Lowell had Choice Voting from 1942 to 1957, why did it change?
A: Lowell voters were initially reluctant to change the system because it did a good job providing the best representation of voters. Voters changed the system in 1957 because it was the era of the “Red Scare” and voters were worried that communists might get elected to city council because that had happened in New York City. It was a time when voters were worried about about what “minorities” might get elected! In addition, before computers were used to count votes, vote counting could last for several days before all the winners were declared elected.
FAIR VOTE LOWELL
Mehmed Ali
Angela Aponte
Marcia Cassidy
Johana Cardona
Rodrigo Cardoso
Myrna L. Carrasco
Coralie Cintron
Nereida Crespo
Elba Cruz
Jose G. Da Silva
Victoria Fahlberg
Mayra Garcia
Wilfredo Garcia
Danielle Gemmell
Kathy Knoblanch
Ivette Nieves
Aaron Nyaha
Virtu M. Ortiz
Victor Osay
Yim Chan Ramsek
Betsy Rivera - Garcia
Amy Saba-Farmer
Joacir Santos
Miatta Shafore
Alfanio Silva
Edward Sok
Felicia Sullivan
Felipe Valencia
Adalva Ventura
Vera Zarrela
