How It Works

Question 2 addresses the problems caused by having a two-round runoff election system by having a single "Instant Runoff" election. Voters rank candidates in order of choice: they indicate a first choice, but have the option to indicate a second choice, third choice, and so on. For the voters that's all there is to it. Evidence from cities with IRV is that voters find it easy to use.

To determine a majority winner, all voters' first choices are totaled for each candidate. If one candidate has a of majority support (50% + 1), that candidate wins. If not, the top candidates advance to a runoff round of counting. If your first choice makes it to the runoff, your vote counts for that candidate. If your first choice has lost, your ballot counts for the runoff candidate who is ranked next on the ballot. IRV simulates what you could choose between the top candidates in a runoff that was held the same day as the first election.

---

More Information About Instant Runoff Voting

• Recent presidential elections help show how IRV would work. In 1992, for example, Bill Clinton won 43% of the vote, George H.W. Bush won 37% and Ross Perot 19%. If IRV had been used, Perot would have lost. His voters� ballots then would have been added to the totals of Clinton and Bush based on their second choice rankings. We would have determined the real majority winner.
  
  
• The same would have been true in 2000, when George Bush ran against Al Gore, and Ralph Nader won enough votes that no candidate won a majority. Many nations hold separate runoffs to decide such elections. That�s expensive for taxpayers and the candidates. But through IRV, we can determine majority winners in one election.
  
  
• IRV has earned growing attention for how it empowers voters. It's passed in ten straight ballot questions, in cities in California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Vermont and Washington. IRV was used this month in Cary, a North Carolina city of 115,000 � touted as a great success, it avoided the need for a runoff in one city contest.
  
  
• In Florida, IRV has been endorsed by the League of Women Voters and newspapers like The Bradenton Herald, Pelican Press, St. Petersburg Times, Lakeland Ledger, Southwest Florida News Press, and Palm Beach Post. National backers include current and past presidential candidates like Senators John McCain (R-IL) and Barack Obama (D-IL), Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and former Congressman John Anderson (R-IL).

A win for Question 2 doesn't mean we will rush moving to IRV. This responsible reform measure will be implemented only when our election officials are ready. But at that time, we'll gain great benefits. IRV truly represents common sense.