The SUN is reporting that Fair vote Lowell turned in enough signatures yesterday to put this question on the November ballot! Great work!
‘Choice-voting’ question going on Lowell ballot
By Jennifer Myers, jmyers@lowellsun.com
LOWELL — A question will appear on this November’s city election ballot asking voters to change the city’s current voting system to a proportional system.
Elections Office manager Gail Cenik reported that Victoria Fahlberg, the executive director of ONE Lowell who is spearheading the Fair Vote Lowell initiative, turned in 5,126 valid signatures yesterday, more than 900 above what was required for ballot placement.
Under “proportional” or “choice” voting, voters rank their candidates by preference, filling in the “1” oval next to the name of their top choice, “2” for their second, etc.
In counting the votes, a formula is used to determine the number of votes a candidate needs to reach to win. The most common formula divides the number of votes cast by the number of available seats plus one. One is then added to that figure.
For instance, if 12,000 voters cast ballots, a candidate would win a seat by earning 1,201 first-choice picks. Once a candidate reaches the magic number, the remaining ballots on which she was the first choice would be doled out to the second-choice candidates on each. Any candidate who reaches the threshold is automatically elected.
http://www.lowellsun.com/local/ci_13222165