Dartmouth
College held its first instant runoff voting race in April, electing Noah Riner as
Student Body President in the sixth round. The elections team put
together an online IRV election program within weeks, The Dartmouth newspaper featured IRV voter education prior to the election, and all parties involved had positive reactions. The
successful election trails on the heels of recent well-run IRV
elections for the Universities of Oklahoma and Virginia, as well as IRV adoptions at
Clark University, Lewis & Clark College, and Portland State
University.[Read The Dartmouth's IRV guide] [More Dartmouth election results] [More on student elections]
After convening a panel of redistricting reform experts, the San Jose
Mercury News editorial board concluded that if improving elections and
the quality of representation is the goal, California needs multimember
districts with proportional voting. The paper recognized that an
independent redistricting panel would protect minority rights, make
districts compact, and not split cities or communities, but ultimately
found that it would not go far enough. The Mercury News also endorsed
instant runoff voting, citing its recent successful use in San
Francisco.