Circle Voting – Portland Edition
Murray Edelman, Ph.D.
Have you ever realized your ballot was due and you had no idea what the election was about? Are you disappointed with friends that don’t vote? Do you want to act locally to counteract the national attacks from the Right?
If so, I invite you to consider my vision of Circle Voting and help me develop it in time for the May 16th election in Portland. While the vision night be grand, the actual work involved for the coming election is a couple hours of preparation and calling a 30 minute meeting of friends.
Circle Voting is based on my decades of experience in covering elections for the media, my activism, and spiritual study. Circle Voting empowers politically engaged voters by increasing their influence in their social circles by sharing information and promoting voting. It is a more positive way to engage occasional and potentially new voters than trying to shame them to vote. You can browse through the site to see more about me and about the work we did for the 2020 election
I am making the first part of my vision of Circle Voting very practical; it spells out exactly what I am asking of you to do that will bring out more informed voters in Portland in May. In the FAQ that follows I will describe how these actions fit into my larger vision of transforming voting in the US.
But first, some terms:
Social Circle is any community group that comes together often, e.g. backpackers, joggers, neighborhood associations, etc. It could also be a circle of one’s friends.
Coordinators are members of a Social Circle that are willing to call or lead a meeting to discuss an upcoming election. They don’t have to be politically neutral or knowledgeable, just willing to create a safe place for sharing opinions and information. Though I use the plural throughout, there can just be one person in a social circle taking this role.
Circle Voting Central (CVC) is a core group that will seek out Coordinators, develop neutral ways of evaluating the candidates’ websites and issue positions, and provide encouragement and materials for the coordinators to help their Circle Voting meeting flow easily.
Circle Voting in Portland, May 16, 2023
Circle Voting Central for this election will be myself and my friend Jim Carroll and we will be Coordinators for two different social circles. But we want more Coordinators, so we can learn more how Circle Voting can work in different communities and situations.
So, as you read, please consider being a Coordinator and/or passing it on to a potentially interested friend.
1. Coordinators need to select a social group that they are part of and chose a location and time for the meeting. It could be held where the group gathers after a game or has a regular coffee or social activity; it could be a potluck with voting as a theme or a zoom meeting. The meeting would best be held around May 9th, a week before the election, so voters have enough time to learn of all endorsements and mail in their ballots.
2. Shortly after April 26th, when ballots are mailed out, the Coordinators can send a message to their social circle to tell them about the meeting. They can use the ideas in this template:
You will shortly be receiving a ballot for the May 16th Special District Election. If you haven’t heard of this, you are not alone.
We tend to vote in elections with lots of drama that garner a lot of media attention and neglect the less visible local elections even though these affect the quality of our air, parks, schools, etc. For example, in the 2020 Presidential election, 82% of those registered in Multnomah County voted, while only 16% voted in the Special District election in May 2019. Some local elections are very close while Biden won Oregon in a landslide.
Low turnout benefits the moneyed interests and those already in power at the expense of our own interests and those of our community.
This meeting is a chance for us to help each other make the most informed votes. You can come with your knowledge and opinions or not know anything about this election.
Here are the ground rules:
· We will ask questions and share our thoughts about the candidates and issues on the ballot with each other, but we will not be debating or trying to come to agreement.
· No one will be expected to share how they are voting.
· We will respect each other’s right to an opinion. If a discussion becomes heated, we will interrupt and remind people that we don’t have to agree.
· You can bring your ballot and vote right at the meeting or take notes and do your own research later.
3. A few days before the meeting, Coordinators can send a reminder with the details, some of the points made in the previous email, or just something to make it more fun. The reminder could also include an estimated time limit, which in May should be under 30 minutes..
4. Before the meetings Circle Voting Central will send Coordinators a sample ballot, a summary of the endorsements of local publications, suggestions of what races to focus on, and other relevant information.
5. Here is the way the meeting could proceed:
a. The meeting could start with attendees giving their names and what they are feeling now, or it could begin in whatever way is more natural for the group.
b. Coordinators should read the ground rules and ask for everyone’s consent at the end.
c. The group needs to decide if they want to report back to the larger Social Circle. If so, it could include a list of attendees that were available to discuss the election, or it could be a list of each ballot item along with a summary of the group’s spoken preferences. If the list method is chosen, someone would need to keep track and send the report.
d. The discussion would then proceed through the ballot items, either discussing all of them, or the ones that Central Voting Central recommends because they are the most important and contested.
e. At the close of the meeting, attendees would be encouraged to talk to their friends about voting.
6. If a report is sent to the larger group, it could include text like this:
The recommendations below are from a meeting of a small group of our Circle for the coming election. In many cases there isn’t much disagreement, but in a few places, we list the names of where individuals stand and are willing to talk to you about it.
Many people don’t have the time or interest to follow politics; we get that. But know that if you don’t vote, it is almost the same as voting for the winners in the city or state. Our recommendations are made by people that share many of your values, so just following us is a big improvement. And you can talk individually with friends about the issues we may disagree on. In any case, don’t forget to vote.
Keep in mind that if you choose to be a coordinator, you can totally do this your own way.
FREQUENTLY (I hope) ASKED QUESTIONS
How can Circle Voting spread from Portland?
The challenge right now is finding people that can imagine becoming Coordinators in Portland. Once we have more materials, pictures and videos of circles that are voting, and people that can share experiences, it will be easier to find Coordinators.
There are many groups in Portland that exist in other locations and could be potential networks, and of course there is social media. Circle Voting Central in Portland could serve as a base in any contested state and local election by recruiting residents to be coordinators and by preparing materials to aid them.
How can our actions here counteract the attacks from the Right?
This new phase of attacks from the Right is coming in low turnout elections. Conservative PAC’’s are injecting millions into local school board elections. In Ohio there is a move to change the rules to defeat an abortion rights amendment using a referendum not mentioning abortion in a low turnout election.
We can use the methods developed here in Portland, in these low turnout races in other locations. How do we best recruit Coordinators? Can we develop methods that are tailored for specific social circles? For example our spiritually oriented circles in Portland could develop rituals to make voting more sacred.
How will Circle Voting help elect leaders that are more responsive to our community interests rather than the moneyed interests that usually control our elections?
Money is used in a campaign to build name recognition, buy consultants and polls to craft messages and sound bites that are geared toward the people that are less politically engaged.
Circle Voting increases the number of people making informed votes in two ways. One, by bringing in voters that would not usually vote and by making all the less engaged voters more informed by the knowledge of their politically engaged friends.
We are developing relationships over many campaigns and increasing the number of people voting for candidates that can serve them rather than the best politicians that money can buy. And this would of course apply to the many ballot issues pushed by corporate interests.
Why are you starting with this low turnout election in Portland?
I want Circle Voting to have an impact in every election. Every election is an opportunity to strengthen the habit of voting, to empower politically engaged people to share their knowledge and to draw in the less politically engaged by making informed voting easier and more social. This will be far more effective than shaming them with “you should vote.”
Portland has many strong communities and a history of trying new ways to do things. Perhaps we can find ways to make voting more fun and develop rituals around it with the message that we vote with each other and for our community and our future.
How could this method change Portland?
We are bringing in more votes based in diverse communities that are less influenced by money and incumbency.
Remember that local elections can have turnouts of 10 to 40% of eligible voters. It won’t take a lot to make a difference.
What is the history of this method?
In 2022, I used this method in the May Primary in Portland. You can see the materials I prepared here. For many years before that Stella Maris held similar election meetings of the Portland Faeries. I have heard of many cases in other locations of people gathering friends together to fill out their ballots. This method is certainly not new; what makes Circle Voting different is the larger vision and our effort to refine the method so it can travel.
Do I have to be politically engaged to be a Coordinator?
If you’ve read this far, you are politically engaged.
How can I help?
1. Become a Coordinator. Go through the first section and see how it feels. Perhaps you can ask a friend in your social circle to help?
2. Think of your friends/contacts in Oregon. Do you know of politically engaged voters that would be receptive to these ideas? And please look for friends that are younger and more diverse communities?
3. Perhaps you are an election junkie and want to help in preparing materials and researching elections in other locations?
4. Give me your feedback in whatever way feels good to you.
For more information or to get involved, email Murray at circlevoting@gmail.com