BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The Palo Alto teachers’ union is encouraging voters to leave the second spot on their ballot blank in the school board race and engage in a practice called “bullet voting.”
The union is backing classroom aide Linda Henıgın, who is running for one of two open seats against Shazam co-founder Avery Wang and tech executive John Craig.
“Many voters naturally assume they have to pick two candidates, or feel compelled to fill in a second bubble simply because the space is there,” union president Tom Culbertson said in a newsletter on Friday.
But casting a second vote for Wang or Craig could push them ahead of Henigin in a tight race for the second seat, Culbertson said.
“The most effective way to protect her seat is to cast your vote solely for Linda Henigin and leave the second choice blank,” Culbertson said. “That ensures 100% of your ballot’s power is concentrated behind keeping an educator ally on our school board.”
The tactic, called “bullet voting,” was an issue in the 2012 election when four candidates ran for three seats.
Owen Byrd, an attorney and city commissioner who was active in local politics, encouraged voters to vote for only candidate Ken Dauber.
Dauber’s opponents criticized Byrd for not being democratic and said that voters should complete the ballot.
“It doesn’t sit right with me. Everyone has to make their own decision, candidate Heidi Emberling said at the time.
Dauber lost the race but ended up getting elected in 2014.
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