By Cecily Burt, Oakland Tribune, Posted: 08/17/2011 06:29:06 PM PDT, Updated: 08/18/2011 05:56:25 AM PDT

The Oakland City Auditor has found that Oakland Rising, a nonprofit organization, did not misuse public funds it received to educate residents about the ranked-choice voting system used in Oakland for the first time last November.

In August 2010, Just Cause Oakland received a $54,659 public services contract from the city to educate voters about the new election system, which eliminates the need for runoff elections and allows voters to choose up to three candidates. The audit investigation was launched after a complaint that Oakland Rising, the subcontractor hired by Just Cause Oakland to do the outreach, had used the education funds to campaign for then-mayoral candidate Jean Quan.

The audit found that Oakland Rising fulfilled its goal to contact and educate 9,150 voters about the new system. Although the nonprofit group did later work on behalf of Quan’s candidacy, it had already completed its city contract and did not use city funds for that effort, the audit found.