Washington Citizens for Proportional Representation represents Washington State voters of all political persuasions and is dedicated to full and fair representation in local, state and federal elections. We work to increase voter awareness of alternative methods of elections that will give us all a greater voice in government

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Choice Voting: What it would do in Seattle

• Allow representation for the 49% of Seattle voters whose votes may be currently wasted on losing candidates.
• Allow more diversity of thought and opinion at the decision making table
• Assure that our City Council will more closely mirror all of the voters
• Encourage greater voter participation
• Enable you to vote for second, third, and more choices
• Gives Seattle a modern voting system successfully used by most of the democratic world
• Encourage issue-oriented campaigns and discourages negative campaigns

Here is the political spectrum in Seattle, as indicated by the 1996 presidential election:

Seattle's Popular Vote in 1996 Presidential Election

Below is the political composition of the current city council.

Makeup of Seattle City Council

Note: although city elections are non-partisan, all of Seattle's elected officials are declared Democrats.

Using Choice Voting , the Seattle city council might more closely mirror the city’s political spectrum.

Possible outcome of an election using Choice Voting

Choice Voting is a modified at-large system of voting which results in proportional representation. Governments more closely mirror their electorate. Adoption of this system for Seattle's elected offices requires a Charter Amendment. A petition to accomplish this change is being circulated by the Citizens For Proportional Representation.

Mathematicians and political scientists have devised all sorts of voting methods through the years, many of which produce Proportional Representation. Each of them have their individual merits, and long discussions have taken place about the relative differences between them (in fact, many of those issues are discussed on the Election Methods Mailing List).

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