Bernhardt Recall
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The rejection of Councilwoman Linda Bernhardt, by 71%-29% of the vote, appears decisive, yet we should not overlook the fact that she was the most popular candidate of all those on the ballot.
She received 6,251 votes, while Tom Behr, the candidate who will replace her now, got only 4,898, or just about a quarter of the votes in that race. How can this be considered a fair outcome in a democracy?
For future recall elections, the city (and state) should amend the election laws such that, instead of one yes/no vote and another vote among candidates other than the incumbent, there would simply be one new election among all aspirants, including the incumbent.
Then the forces seeking to oust the incumbent would have to come up with a common alternative in order to successfully recall the representative.
Thus could we prevent the anomaly of a replacement who received fewer votes than the recalled incumbent.
MATTHEW SHUGART
Assistant Professor
UC San Diego
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