By Raoul Mitts
Published February 24th 2006 in The State News, MSU's Independant Voice
OK, we just completed phase one of the "special election" for the open Michigan Senate seat.
And we get to do it all over again in a few weeks.
Why are we voting twice when we could vote once, if the Ingham County commissioners would adopt instant runoff voting? Why they don't is a mystery.
Two elections are a waste of time and money.
The Michigan legislature could also adopt instant runoff voting for state elections, but they too seem to prefer to waste time and money with two-election elections.
Raoul Mitts
1974 graduate
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.