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 Adam Kleppner
Published March 13th 2009 in The Caledonian Record
To the Editor:
Burlington just conducted an election for mayor using Instant Runoff Elections. This method quickly produced a candidate with a majority vote in a field of four candidates. It eliminated the need of a runoff election which would have required further campaigning on the part of the candidates and additional expense by the taxpayers.
IRV is used by a number of cities throughout the country and by numerous organizations as well as by some foreign countries. It has proved to be an efficient way of electing someone with a majority vote in elections in which there are more than two candidates. It should be used not only in Burlington but in all state-wide elections for both federal and state offices.
Adam Kleppner
Wardsboro, Vt.
Burlington just conducted an election for mayor using Instant Runoff Elections. This method quickly produced a candidate with a majority vote in a field of four candidates. It eliminated the need of a runoff election which would have required further campaigning on the part of the candidates and additional expense by the taxpayers.
IRV is used by a number of cities throughout the country and by numerous organizations as well as by some foreign countries. It has proved to be an efficient way of electing someone with a majority vote in elections in which there are more than two candidates. It should be used not only in Burlington but in all state-wide elections for both federal and state offices.
Adam Kleppner
Wardsboro, Vt.
