Daily Brew: Learn about the first Calif. municipality that will use cumulative voting

Judge signs order allowing Mission Viejo to use cumulative voting PLUS 14 out of the remaining 20 primaries will be held this month   Welcome to the Wednesday, August 1 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Judge signs order allowing Mission Viejo to become first city in California to use cumulative voting 14 out of the remaining 20 primaries will be held this month. All will be decided by plurality. One week until Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Washington Mission Viejo set to become first California city to use cumulative voting in municipal elections Judge Walter Schwarm, of the Superior Court of Orange County, signed an order last week establishing the use of cumulative voting in Mission Viejo municipal elections beginning in 2020, marking the conclusion of a challenge to the city's electoral system initiated by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.  Under cumulative voting, an elector may cast as many votes as there are seats up for election. If, for example, five seats are up for election, a voter may cast five votes for a single candidate or distribute his or her votes among several candidates. The candidates with the highest number of votes are elected. As a result of Schwarm's order, Mission Viejo became the first California city to adopt cumulative voting for municipal elections. On September 26, 2017, attorney Kevin Shenkman filed a letter on behalf of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project with city officials alleging that Mission Viejo's at-large electoral system for city council seats violated the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).  The city held a series of five public hearings on the matter. On February 13, 2018, the Mission Viejo City Council voted unanimously to pursue an alternative voting system after concluding that district elections would not ameliorate the CVRA violation alleged by Shenkman.  Learn more         20 primaries left, all will be decided by plurality (so, no more runoffs!) In the remaining primary contest of the cycle, primary winners will be determined by simple plurality vote: the candidate with the greatest number of votes will be declared the winner, even if he or she does not win an outright majority (i.e., 50 percent plus 1) of all votes cast. Nine states require a primary candidate to win a majority of votes cast in order to be declared the winner: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Maine (which utilizes ranked-choice voting), Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. In these states, a runoff primary must be held if no candidate wins outright in the first primary. In two states, runoff primaries are held if no candidate meets a minimum plurality threshold: North Carolina, where a candidate must win 40 percent of the vote in order to avoid a runoff, and South Dakota, where congressional and gubernatorial candidates must win 35 percent of the vote. There were 46 congressional or statewide primaries that required a runoff in 2018. *Note: Louisiana does not conduct true primary elections. Instead, all candidates for congressional and state-level office, regardless of partisan affiliation, run in the general election. If no candidate wins a majority of votes cast for an office, a runoff is held between the top two vote-getters. Click here for more information on primary elections in the United States→ One week away: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Washington Six  days until the next multi-state night of primary contests. Are you heading to the polls this month? Find your sample ballot here. Among the primary contests to watch next week, three made our Top 10 primary lists for the cycle. Kansas’ 3rd District, Democratic primary: A field of six Democrats have filed to run for the congressional seat in Kansas' 3rd District, which has been held by incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder (R) since 2011. The district voted for Hillary Clinton (D) by 1 percentage point in the 2016 presidential election.  The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) placed the district on its target list for 2018. More on KS-3→ Michigan’s 11th District, Democratic primary: Democrats will select a nominee for this suburban Detroit seat being vacated by David Trott (R). With increasing attention on which party will control the House of Representatives next year, both sides will likely view the general election for this seat as critical to winning the majority. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has targeted the seat in November, but it did not endorse a candidate in the primary. More on MI-11 (D)→ Michigan’s 11th District, Republican primary: State Sen. Mike Kowall is the choice of the local Republican establishment, according to the Detroit Free Press, and would likely be ideologically similar to Trott, one of the more moderate House Republicans. Kowall supported a pathway to citizenship for children who entered the country without legal permission that is not tied to President Trump’s border wall and further limits on legal immigration. Businesswoman Lena Epstein has mostly self-funded her campaign. With $1.5 million total, she leads the next highest fundraising candidate by about $1.25 million. Epstein was a co-chair of Trump’s 2016 Michigan campaign and has aligned herself closely to the president’s agenda. State Rep. Klint Kesto is emphasizing his support for repealing the Affordable Care Act, defunding Planned Parenthood, abolishing sanctuary jurisdictions, ending corporate subsidies, and increasing investments in the military and veterans. He also headed up the state House's effort to respond to revelations that Dr. Larry Nassar sexually abused hundreds of gymnasts while working at Michigan State University. Former Congressman Kerry Bentivolio and former state Rep. Rocky Raczkowski are also running in this five-candidate field. More on MI-11 (R)→