It’s Time to Rethink the 'At-Large' Paradigm for City Council

To the Editor:

The Alexandria City Council is elected “at-large."  In at-large voting, all the candidates for office run in one large multi-member district, usually the entire city. Voters have the same number of votes as the number of seats to be filled. The candidates with the highest numbers of votes, or plurality, win.

This form of voting has substantial disadvantages for citizens. It leads to the misrepresentation of parties, manufactured majorities, low voter turnout, high levels of wasted votes, and denial of fair representation to third parties, racial minorities and women. And it may make some of these problems worse. In particular, this system tends to be the worst at representing racial and political minorities. It allows a majority of the voters to win all the seats on the city council, thus shutting out these minorities from representation. Finally, at-large voting, in its most common form, fails to ensure that all neighborhoods in the city are represented.

While we celebrate Alexandria’s diversity, we are actually a city of neighborhoods with diverse problems and interests. The known problems of at-large elections may account for the recent “lack of civility” that has occurred in our city. Minority groups in Arlandria, Old Town and the West End feel disenfranchised. It’s that simple.

An at-large election also prevents individual neighborhood leaders from entering as independent candidates. The cost of running a citywide campaign is far greater that a neighborhood campaign. It results in the Democratic and Republican Party elite picking the candidates rather than citizens.

It is time for Alexandria to rethink how Council is elected. Maybe a different paradigm will bring back civility.

Russ Adams
Just a longtime Alexandria resident