Local Dark Money - Flipbook - Page 98
Stop! Stealing Our Votes
Developers against Single Member Districts
Sixty percent of Sarasota voters approved
Single Member Districts for County
Commission seats in 2018.
Passage of a charter amendment to create
Single Member Districts (SMD) was an eûort
organized by the Sarasota Alliance for Fair
Elections (SAFE). SAFEÕs prior charter
amendment passed in 2006; it made paper
ballots a requirement in Sarasota County.
The prior at-large voting system for County
Commissioners meant every voter in the
Sarasota voted for all Þve Commissioners. The
result? A huge advantage for candidates
backed by special interests, with an uphill
climb for grass-roots candidates. At-large
voting required candidates for County
Commission to eûectively campaign in a
County of over 400,000 people. It was like
