On March 16th, Former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean continued his support for instant runoff voting on Vermont Radio's Mark Johnson Show. Commenting on Burlington's recent IRV election, Dean said "I think the best and most democratic way to use to elect people in multiparty elections is instant runoff voting." Dean also supported the system when it was first used in Burlington in 2006.
Citizens of Burlington, Vermont went to the polls on Tuesday, March 3rd to vote for the second time in an election using instant runoff voting. At 8:25 PM, the city declared that incumbent Mayor Bob Kiss had won reelection in the third and final round of counting, narrowly edging out challenger Kurt Wright, 51.5% to 48.5%. The race was unique in that it had four candidates that had a legitimate shot at winning: Progressive Kiss, Republican Wright, Democrat Andy Montroll, and independent Dan Smith. In most other American cities, there would be fear of "spoiler" candidates, but IRV allowed all four candidates to run without having to worry about being labeled "spoilers."
On April 4, Vermont governor Jim Douglas chose to veto legislation to re-establish majority elections for Congress in his state through instant runoff voting. Vermont would have been the first state to enact IRV for Congress; legislative leaders affirmed their commitment to the bill, and it is sure to move in the state again. FairVote has worked hard to support this legislation, which likely generated more than 600 phone calls to the governor from Vermonters.By Krist Novoselic
Published March 3rd 2009 in Seattle Weekly
Incumbent mayor Bob Kiss won Burlington, Vermont's second instant runoff voting (IRV) election for mayor in which voters had the power to rank five candidates in order of preference. In Washington we call this system Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). First used in Burlington to elect its mayor in 2006, instant runoff voting essentially combines a first round and a runoff election into one.
The Burlington election was a model of clean, open debate without "spoiler" concerns. Democratic city councilor Bill Keogh was quoted in the local daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, as saying, "This campaign has been very, very good" and that the four leading candidates had been "as forthright as they can be with their views. This is the most respectful and informative campaign in Burlington in a long time."
That's a major benefit of Ranked Choice Voting - less negative campaigning. Remember all of the negative political advertising in last fall's Top-Two campaign? It seemed like the nasty commercials were never going to stop! If you're tired of negative campaigning you should check out Ranked Choice Voting.
The Burlington election was a model of clean, open debate without "spoiler" concerns. Democratic city councilor Bill Keogh was quoted in the local daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, as saying, "This campaign has been very, very good" and that the four leading candidates had been "as forthright as they can be with their views. This is the most respectful and informative campaign in Burlington in a long time."
That's a major benefit of Ranked Choice Voting - less negative campaigning. Remember all of the negative political advertising in last fall's Top-Two campaign? It seemed like the nasty commercials were never going to stop! If you're tired of negative campaigning you should check out Ranked Choice Voting.
