California Senate Defeats IRV Bill by One Vote

September 10th, 2009

On September 10, the California Senate voted 20 in favor, 19 against, on AB 1121. California bills can’t pass unless they receive 21 votes in the 40-member State Senate, so the bill failed. It allows 10 non-charter cities or counties to use Instant Runoff Voting for their own elections.

2 Responses to “California Senate Defeats IRV Bill by One Vote”

  1. Darryl W. Perry Says:
    September 11th, 2009 at 12:02 am

    Richard, did 2 ‘non-votes” kills this bill?

  2. Bob Richard Says:
    September 11th, 2009 at 8:03 am

    Darryl, there was actually one abstention or absence, not two (20 + 19 + 1 = 40). And no, that didn’t kill the bill because the absent senator would have voted no. Had that person been a potential yes vote, then the floor manager probably would have been able to get her vote counted,

    Two years ago, the vote on AB 1294 was 22-18. This wasn’t much different, just different enough to lose this time.