D -- Reality check -- a real world runoff election --- not sure of the cost for it (versus the cost of having ANY sort of accurate single winner method).
How much *ballot-tampering and endorsement-buying* would there be with a single winner method -- more ? less ? same ? ------ Dallas to Pick a New Mayor By SUSAN PARROTT DALLAS (AP) - A former City Council gadfly and an insurance executive favored by the business community meet in a runoff for mayor Saturday after a hard-fought campaign marked by allegations of ballot-tampering and endorsement-buying. In a poll of 1,019 likely voters conducted this week, 48 percent said they would vote for Laura Miller, the former councilwoman, while 38 percent said they prefer Tom Dunning. Both candidates are Democrats who advanced to the runoff after a five-way election on Jan. 19 left no candidate with the required 50 percent of the vote. In the month since, both Miller and Dunning have been accused of offering to buy the endorsement of one of their rivals, state Rep. Domingo Garcia, by paying off his campaign debt. Garcia finished third in last month's balloting. The district attorney in neighboring Fort Worth has been called in to investigate. This week, Miller's campaign questioned whether Dunning's political operatives tampered with mail-in ballots from homebound senior citizens. On Wednesday, Dunning fired an operative who ran a mail-in ballot effort, saying, ``We will not engage in any practices that might appear questionable, even if they are legal.'' Before joining the City Council, Miller, 43, was a muckraking newspaper columnist critical of city government. Dunning, 59, said he will be a better consensus builder and has the support of many council members. The winner of the mayor's race will serve the rest of Ron Kirk's term, which runs through May 2003. Kirk, who left a legacy of big projects like a $420 million arena, resigned as mayor in November to run for the Senate. Both candidates have touted a back-to-basics approach that emphasized street repairs, parks and crime-fighting.
