It's to laugh
The new City of Portland charter is quite a piece of work. Look at what the ballot for mayor looks like:
But wait, it gets worse. Here's what the ballot for a City Council race looks like, in this case for District 3:
This grotesque scene is repeated in three other districts.
As breathtakingly bad as those ballots are, they're nothing compared to the crazy procedures that will be undertaken once they start counting them.
Anyone who tells you that this is "more democratic" than a primary and a general election is pulling your leg.
I think it's a problem that the candidates' political parties are not revealed.
ReplyDeleteCity offices have been non-partisan for quite some time, that isn’t new.
DeleteIt’s Portland so it isn’t hard to guess their affiliation.
DeleteActually, there's a City Council candidate in District 4 who is a MAGA Trump supporter.
DeleteIf I had the energy I'd copy this and then change all the names into dirty double entendres.
DeleteA MAGA supporter running for office in Portland??. Now, there’s a brave person.
DeleteHe’ll get my vote!
DeleteHow is the average voter supposed to find the time to wade through all these names? It's almost like they're begging us not to vote.
ReplyDeleteYes, and then the Carmen Rubio/Candace Avalos sorts will win.
DeleteHere's my guide to District 2: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/09/portland-district-2-first-cut.html
And here's District 1: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/09/portland-district-1-first-cut.html
What happens if you vote for one person to be all of the ranks? I'm assuming it gets tossed but I don't see any language forbidding it.
ReplyDeleteThe vote will not be counted.
DeleteI just spent an hour on a ZOOM call with Tim Scott, who runs elections for the county. Very nice guy, seems to understand the mathematics of the district votes--which will be chopped up by voting machine software and handed out as fractions in ranking the candidates...and here we get into deep, deep weeds. No one I know, other than Tim, really understands how this thing works--but we'll soon find out.
ReplyDeleteOne piece of advice he issued: do NOT rank anyone you don't want to win. Because as the algorithm chops and shifts votes surprises can happen--just Google "Alaska elections" to find out.
The possibly fatal mistake made by Julia Meier and the City Club/ Coalition of Communities of Color gang was to do away with primary elections--an old progressive invention--which winnows down the final list of nominees. Easier ranking ten or 11 pols than the mad rush we're presented with. But then Candace et al probably figured that this would be won on name recognition, and big unions' and nonprofits' endorsements (and ballot bundling). Which were never mentioned in the charter commishion's chatty "Progress Reports."
To repeat: Do NOT rank anyone you don't want to win. Period.
Just posted my take on District 3: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/09/portland-district-3-first-cut.html
ReplyDeleteHere's District 4: https://www.bojack2.com/2024/09/portland-district-4-first-cut.html
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