The Bonita Springs City Council this morning decided to hold on an idea to revamp its election process where voters rank candidates, waiting for the results of a similar provision in Sarasota.

Under the proposal made by Councilwoman Martha Simons, in a system called Instant Runoff Voting, voters would rank candidates in multi-person races instead of simply choosing one. Instant Runoff Voting eliminates the need to for cities to have runoff elections, and winners are chosen based on the rankings.

Simons proposed putting the system in Bonita's charter because she thought it would force the Florida Legislature to adopt the technology for such voting, which is not available to anyone. If the council would have modified the charter, it simply would have said Bonita voters would start using the technology when it became available.

The council decided not to change the charter. The members are going to wait to see what voters in Sarasota decide when they face a referendum issue on their November ballot.