 | IRV in Utah
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On Saturday, May 8, 2004, the Utah Republican Party held a convention with 3,500 delegates who were charged with selecting their party's nominees for the office of Governor, Attorney General, and numerous US Congressional seats. To ensure majority support for their nominees and save on election time and expense, the Utah Republicans used instant runoff voting.
In 2001, the Utah Republican Party adopted instant runoff voting (IRV) for elections that take place at its state conventions. Several counties also use IRV at their county conventions. The party uses IRV to elect officers and to nominate candidates -- candidates can win outright at the convention or, if neither of the final two candidates has 60% support, advance to a runoff primary.
IRV was used to nominate congressional candidates in 2002. By 2003, it was used to elect party officers, and, in 2004, it will be used for elections of the governor (an open seat), U.S. senators and representatives, attorney general, national committeeman and national committee woman.
Prior to 2002, the party used a multiple-round ballot system that often took many hours and resulted in decreases in voter turnout before the decisive election -- a problem encountered by many parties and organizations that hold repeated balloting for elections during their conventions.
See a visual description of the IRV balloting process
See results of the 2003 Utah Republican Convention Elections
