VOA标准英语2010年-New York Village Vote Aims for Better

One small village in the northeast U.S. state of New York is making a big change in selecting its leaders after being charged with voting discrimination in 2006.  The new cumulative¹ voting system is intended to bring minorities into the government.

 

The government of Port Chester, New York is run by a six-person board of trustees elected by the residents of the city.  But Mayor Dennis Pilla says in 2006 the U.S. Department of Justice put a halt to the city's elections because the voting system was not reflecting the needs of minority voters.

"It has been four years since Port Chester voters have been able to elect their trustees," said Mayor Pilla.

Mayor Pilla says there has never been a Latino trustee elected, even though ethnic² Hispanics make up nearly 50 percent of the city's population.

"But they are not all citizens.  They are not all registered to vote," he added.

It was also difficult recruiting Hispanic candidates for the board.  So the city and the Department of Justice came up with a different election process to solve the discrepancy³.

Organization FairVote helped come up with the innovative⁴ voting process.  Executive Director Rob Ritchey explains the Port Chester system.

"In a traditional system everyone has one vote for each seat, so six votes to six seats, and they are limited to giving one vote per person and if there is a cohesive⁵ majority then all those voters vote one for each of their candidates and all of them win, and then relatively⁶ substantial numbers of voters can go and vote and not elect anyone.  With cumulative voting you have a new option," said Ritchey.

Under the new process voters still have six votes, but they have the option to vote for a candidate more than once.  Ritchey says residents can give two votes to one candidate and four to another or give all six votes to one candidate. 

"The mathematics of cumulative voting work out that if a group in a six-seater race of about a sixth of the vote or so gives all their votes to one candidate that candidate will win one of six seats no matter what other voters do, so that it opens the door towards representation of parts of the community that would not otherwise elect someone," he added.

Cumulative voting gives Port Chester's Latinos the opportunity to elect at least one candidate to the board that reflects their values.  This year three of the 13 candidates are Latino.

This type of voting has never before been used in New York State, and it is only the third time it has been used in the United States.

Initially⁷, Mayor Pilla says, the community was resistant⁸ to the new system.

"Upfront, there were a large number of people in the village that sat there and thought the system was being forced on us and rammed⁹ down our throats, and why do we have to change," he explained.

But Pilla thinks tension eased over time as the town became familiar with the new system.

Columbia University Professor Rodolfo de la Garza says a successful change in voting process for this one village could lead to wider use of cumulative voting, especially as a remedy for discrimination.
.
"It reflects the fact that voter discrimination, however indirect it may be, it is not explicit¹⁰ necessarily, continues to exists," explained Professor de la Garza.

De La Garza says the new electoral process will mark a big change for Latinos in Port Chester.

"It is symbolic," he added.  "They want to have a voice.  I am sure they are hard working members of that community, overwhelmingly.  There are some derelicts of course, but overwhelmingly they are trying to make it in America and [now] they have access."

And it looks like they have, election results show at least one of the six officials elected to the board, Luis Marino, is Latino.

 

1 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

6 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

9 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 explicit   

adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

参考例句：

• She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。
• He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。