Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled,
and by authority of the same, as follows:
M.G.L. c. 54 is hereby amended by deleting the third sentence of section 78,
and inserting the following new section:
§ 78B Voting by the Instant Runoff Voting Method(a) The purpose of this section shall be to require a majority, not a plurality, of votes for election to the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of the commonwealth, state treasurer, and state auditor.
(b) Instant Runoff Voting, as defined herein, shall be the method used for all elections to the following offices when three or more candidates have qualified to have their names printed on the ballot for those offices: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of the commonwealth, state treasurer, and state auditor.
(c) “Instant Runoff Voting” means a method of casting and tabulating votes that simulates the ballot counts that would occur if all voters participated in a series of runoff elections. Each voter shall have only one vote. That vote may be transferred according to each voter’s indicated preferences. Voters may rank candidates according to their preference and, if no candidate obtains a majority of first-choice votes, votes are transferred in sequential tabulations according to the voters’ preferences until a candidate has a majority of the votes. Upon the final tabulation, the candidate having the highest number of votes shall be deemed and declared to be elected.
(d) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall adopt and promulgate regulations consistent with this section, which regulations shall ensure that ballots shall be simple and easy to understand.