IRV in Vermont
A broad grass-roots campaign to adopt instant runoff
voting has made tremendous headway in Vermont.
CVD has compiled this list of organizations in
Vermont that have endorsed instant runoff voting and of links
to the pertaining statement of support
:
In 2002, over fifty
Vermont towns
have passed advisory referendum urging the adoption of IRV. Vermont
media
coverage of
the increased interest in IRV has also been extensive.
Many elected leaders support instant runoff
voting including Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz, who made
a Powerpoint presentation
on IRV to the National Association of Secretaries of State,
and former governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean.
A study by the
League of Women
Voters
in October
2002 also reveals that many Vermont politicians hope the state will adopt IRV for state legislature and state senate.
Legislation has been
introduced to adopt instant runoff voting in every session of the
Vermont legislature since 1998. The identical House and
Senate bills for 2003-2004 are H.82
and S.22,
or you can read a summary of the
bill. Bill sponsors have included members of
all three major parties in Vermont.
A major watershed was the 1999
report
of the Vermont Commission to Study Preference
Voting. This
report sponsored by the Vermont House, unanimously recommended
adoption of IRV for all statewide
elections. |