When Takoma Park residents go to the polls for the Nov. 8 municipal election, they will choose between three candidates for mayor, placing one mark on the city’s paper ballots for their top choice. The candidate who receives the most votes will win.

But voters also will be asked to advise the City Council on whether or not to use a different voting method in future years, in which residents would rank their choices for races with three or more candidates. The method, known as instant-runoff voting, will appear as a non-binding referendum following the council’s approval of the ballot question last week.

‘‘[Instant-runoff voting] is clearly not the be-all, end-all answer to the ills of our democracy ... but it speaks to important basic principals about what democracy should be,” said Robert Richie, executive director of Takoma Park-based FairVote, The Center for Voting and Democracy. The city currently uses a plurality-voting system, meaning that whichever candidate receives the most number of votes wins a race, regardless of whether or not that person has a majority, or more than 50 percent.

‘‘When you’re electing someone to be mayor, or you’re electing one person to represent a ward, you want a majority of the voters to be able to elect that person,” said Richie, one of a number of residents who asked the City Council to consider putting instant-runoff voting on the ballot. ‘‘And, if three people are running for mayor, as is happening this year, and could happen in any office at any time, the current plurality-voting system doesn’t meet that principle.”

The fact that Takoma Park has a three-way race for mayor this year shows that it can happen, said Councilman Marc Elrich (Ward 5), who initially brought the issue before the council at the request of residents, including Richie. And, since the ballot question is advisory, the council would still have to go through a formal process of discussion and public hearings before amending the City Charter, Elrich said.

Instant-runoff voting will not be used in this year’s municipal election, and if approved by the City Council in the future, it would only apply to elections for the council and mayor, not to county, state or federal races.

So how would instant-runoff voting work? In a hypothetical election — among Candidate Adam, Candidate Bob and Candidate Cindy — voters would rank each candidate for office, designating their first, second and third choices.

If Adam received moer than 50 percent of the votes, he would be the winner. But if none of the three received at least 50 percent plus one vote, the candidate with the least number of votes would be eliminated.

If Cindy were eliminated, election judges would then count the ballots again. For ballots with Cindy as the first choice, judges would count the second choice, effectively narrowing the field of candidates to two. Presumably, either Adam or Bob would then receive at least 50.1 percent of the vote and would be the winner.

‘‘This goes to the heart of the democratic process,” said Jamie Raskin, professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and a FairVote board member, ‘‘and the question is, are we going to use a system of majority-rule or plurality-rule?”

Having three choices can put voters in a quandary, city resident Mary Rooker told the City Council before it voted on the ballot question Thursday, and instant-runoff voting would solve the problem. ‘‘I actually wish we had this right now in Takoma Park for our mayoral race. I want to learn more about all the candidates, but frankly, there are two I like a lot.”

‘‘... I’m stuck — I’m ending up as a voter strategizing, as though this were a game I’m playing, and democracy is not a game,” she said. ‘‘This is really important to me, as to who my mayor is. I don’t want it to be a game. I don’t want to sit and think, ‘Uh oh, if I vote this way, and I’m going to ruin it...’ This is insane.”

But former Councilman Rino Aldrighetti said the city has bigger issues to worry about, like completing the community center project and the relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital. ‘‘It’s kind of solving issues that we don’t have,” he told the council. ‘‘... The real issue in Takoma Park ... is that you don’t have [more] people running [for public office].”

Councilwoman Marie Ritzo (Ward 2) agreed: ‘‘Based on the nominating caucus, it seems, if anything, we have too few candidates running for office in the city, and not so many that need to be ranked in order of voter preference. ... Bottom line is it makes theoretical sense, but it doesn’t make pragmatic sense in Takoma Park.”

With a small number of cities and towns, including San Francisco, Burlington, Vt., and Ferndale, Mich., currently using instant-runoff voting, Takoma Park should take the lead in adopting the format, Mayor Kathy Porter said. She likened the effort to approve instant-runoff voting to the city’s trailblazing support of non-U.S. citizen voting in municipal elections.

‘‘I think that even though it hasn’t turned out that non-citizen voters have made the difference in any of our elections, I still think it was an important issue for the city to take a stand on,” she said. ‘‘... Takoma Park has been in the forefront in a lot of new ideas that have come through, [and] I think this is an instance where we can be in the forefront, even if it doesn’t affect a particular election.”

Despite a few council objections, members passed a resolution approving the ballot question on a 7-0 roll call vote.

Councilman Terry Seamens (Ward 4) said if residents approve the advisory referendum, it doesn’t mean he would vote to approve a City Charter amendment to implement instant-runoff voting, especially since there is so little time to educate voters about the process prior to the Nov. 8 election. ‘‘But I think it does give us an opportunity to get some feedback from voters in the community.”

When Takoma Park residents go to the polls for the Nov. 8 municipal election, they will choose between three candidates for mayor, placing one mark on the city’s paper ballots for their top choice. The candidate who receives the most votes will win.

But voters also will be asked to advise the City Council on whether or not to use a different voting method in future years, in which residents would rank their choices for races with three or more candidates. The method, known as instant-runoff voting, will appear as a non-binding referendum following the council’s approval of the ballot question last week.

‘‘[Instant-runoff voting] is clearly not the be-all, end-all answer to the ills of our democracy ... but it speaks to important basic principals about what democracy should be,” said Robert Richie, executive director of Takoma Park-based FairVote, The Center for Voting and Democracy. The city currently uses a plurality-voting system, meaning that whichever candidate receives the most number of votes wins a race, regardless of whether or not that person has a majority, or more than 50 percent.

‘‘When you’re electing someone to be mayor, or you’re electing one person to represent a ward, you want a majority of the voters to be able to elect that person,” said Richie, one of a number of residents who asked the City Council to consider putting instant-runoff voting on the ballot. ‘‘And, if three people are running for mayor, as is happening this year, and could happen in any office at any time, the current plurality-voting system doesn’t meet that principle.”

The fact that Takoma Park has a three-way race for mayor this year shows that it can happen, said Councilman Marc Elrich (Ward 5), who initially brought the issue before the council at the request of residents, including Richie. And, since the ballot question is advisory, the council would still have to go through a formal process of discussion and public hearings before amending the City Charter, Elrich said.

Instant-runoff voting will not be used in this year’s municipal election, and if approved by the City Council in the future, it would only apply to elections for the council and mayor, not to county, state or federal races.

So how would instant-runoff voting work? In a hypothetical election — among Candidate Adam, Candidate Bob and Candidate Cindy — voters would rank each candidate for office, designating their first, second and third choices.

If Adam received moer than 50 percent of the votes, he would be the winner. But if none of the three received at least 50 percent plus one vote, the candidate with the least number of votes would be eliminated.

If Cindy were eliminated, election judges would then count the ballots again. For ballots with Cindy as the first choice, judges would count the second choice, effectively narrowing the field of candidates to two. Presumably, either Adam or Bob would then receive at least 50.1 percent of the vote and would be the winner.

‘‘This goes to the heart of the democratic process,” said Jamie Raskin, professor at American University’s Washington College of Law and a FairVote board member, ‘‘and the question is, are we going to use a system of majority-rule or plurality-rule?”

Having three choices can put voters in a quandary, city resident Mary Rooker told the City Council before it voted on the ballot question Thursday, and instant-runoff voting would solve the problem. ‘‘I actually wish we had this right now in Takoma Park for our mayoral race. I want to learn more about all the candidates, but frankly, there are two I like a lot.”

‘‘... I’m stuck — I’m ending up as a voter strategizing, as though this were a game I’m playing, and democracy is not a game,” she said. ‘‘This is really important to me, as to who my mayor is. I don’t want it to be a game. I don’t want to sit and think, ‘Uh oh, if I vote this way, and I’m going to ruin it...’ This is insane.”

But former Councilman Rino Aldrighetti said the city has bigger issues to worry about, like completing the community center project and the relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital. ‘‘It’s kind of solving issues that we don’t have,” he told the council. ‘‘... The real issue in Takoma Park ... is that you don’t have [more] people running [for public office].”

Councilwoman Marie Ritzo (Ward 2) agreed: ‘‘Based on the nominating caucus, it seems, if anything, we have too few candidates running for office in the city, and not so many that need to be ranked in order of voter preference. ... Bottom line is it makes theoretical sense, but it doesn’t make pragmatic sense in Takoma Park.”

With a small number of cities and towns, including San Francisco, Burlington, Vt., and Ferndale, Mich., currently using instant-runoff voting, Takoma Park should take the lead in adopting the format, Mayor Kathy Porter said. She likened the effort to approve instant-runoff voting to the city’s trailblazing support of non-U.S. citizen voting in municipal elections.

‘‘I think that even though it hasn’t turned out that non-citizen voters have made the difference in any of our elections, I still think it was an important issue for the city to take a stand on,” she said. ‘‘... Takoma Park has been in the forefront in a lot of new ideas that have come through, [and] I think this is an instance where we can be in the forefront, even if it doesn’t affect a particular election.”

Despite a few council objections, members passed a resolution approving the ballot question on a 7-0 roll call vote.

Councilman Terry Seamens (Ward 4) said if residents approve the advisory referendum, it doesn’t mean he would vote to approve a City Charter amendment to implement instant-runoff voting, especially since there is so little time to educate voters about the process prior to the Nov. 8 election. ‘‘But I think it does give us an opportunity to get some feedback from voters in the community.”

Takoma Park will include a non-binding referendum on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot regarding the use of instant-runoff voting. City voters will be asked to vote for or against the following advisory referendum: ‘‘The City Charter now provides that the candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each office is elected to that office, even if that candidate does not have a majority of votes. A runoff election is held only in the event of a tie vote.

‘‘The City Council should amend the Charter to adopt an instant runoff voting system that allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice (1, 2, 3 and so on) to produce a majority vote for a candidate without a runoff election in the event that no candidate receives a majority of the first choices.”

Takoma Park will include a non-binding referendum on the Nov. 8 municipal ballot regarding the use of instant-runoff voting. City voters will be asked to vote for or against the following advisory referendum: ‘‘The City Charter now provides that the candidate receiving the largest number of votes for each office is elected to that office, even if that candidate does not have a majority of votes. A runoff election is held only in the event of a tie vote.

‘‘The City Council should amend the Charter to adopt an instant runoff voting system that allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice (1, 2, 3 and so on) to produce a majority vote for a candidate without a runoff election in the event that no candidate receives a majority of the first choices.”