Peoria City Council At-Large Election Quiz #4:
How do you feel about Peoria’s bullet voting system?
Brad Carter: I think it is unfair and does the opposite of what it was intended to do. A person with the least amount of voters can get the most votes. I propose each voter can have up to five votes, but can only vote for a candidate once. If a voter chooses to vote for less than five candidates, they relinquish the remaining votes.
Donald Cummings: Bullet voting was a way to right a past wrong. It has not accomplished it intended purpose. I favor 2 councilmen from each of the 5 districts.
Dan Irving: I am not in favor of cumulative voting. I believe that one person should have one vote. As an alternative idea, I would propose we evaluate the election of two council members each from the current five districts or re-evaluate the current districts and establish ten, better balanced districts throughout the city.
George Jacob: We need to work to change the system. I believe that it distorts results and does not effectively meet the original goal of increased minority voice and involvement. I would welcome an open dialog with community input on the entire structure of the muni system (eg district vs at large, etc). We also need to try to increase overall voter turnout and involvement in the elective process.
Kelley Mammen: Ask me again after this election (ha ha). It should be one person one vote period. It is not done in any other election around here. The bullet voting can keep bad people in and good people out.
Gary Sandberg: (THIS IS REPRINT OF MY ANSWER TO SIMILAR QUESTION POSED BY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE) I was elected three terms as a District representative without cumulative voting and twice as At Large with cumulative voting so I do not see that cumulative voting is the issue as much as the number of Council members that are elected by the entire City in lieu of districts. With 5 At Larges plus the Mayor, a majority of the Council is elected by the entire Community and loses the focused direction of a constituency that District Council members have. The initial Plaintiffs did NOT seek or want the 5 At Large members elected cumulatively, The Plaintiffs wanted all District representatives. It was the then sitting Council with 3 At Larges that felt the At Large representation was extremely necessary that the current system was agreed to. Cumulative voting has provided for minority leverage and election of at least one in each At Large election, so therefore I guess the desired effect has been met, but at the expense of now having the majority of the Council without a true definable constituency.
In short, cumulative voting doesn’t matter one way or the other when the discussion should revolve around ratio of District to At Large or whether At Large representation is really beneficial or would the initial Plaintiff’s demand better serve the City
Chuck Schierer: I oppose cumulative voting. It does not help minorities. All this system does is entrench incumbents because of their name recognition. If we want a fresh perspective on the Peoria City Council, get rid of cumulative voting.
Ryan Spain: I would favor a one person, one vote system.
Gale Thetford: I question whether the bullet voting system actually elects individuals who represent the entire city. But that is the current system and as a result, I certainly hope that I will have earned five votes from some voters.
Eric Turner: I believe in “One person - One vote” That is what Democracy was based on. The current “bullet voting” system that was created through a court decision has never worked as it was supposedly intended.
March 10th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
I support the new bullet voting process of Peoria. The at-large position on the council reflects issues for the whole city and should continue as it is.