The exact procedures for instant runoff voting go to the Burlington City
Council tonight with a hurry-up request from the Charter Change
Committee that they be approved on the spot.

Jo LaMarche, assistant city clerk and the director of elections and
records, told the council in a note attached to the proposed rules that
the committee wants instant action "in order that we may proceed in
educating voters in the city which will include a mock election in the
month of November."

City voters in March approved the instant runoff system for mayoral
elections. It would require that the winning candidate ultimately win 50
percent of the vote, plus one. Under the system used in the past, a
candidate could win with as little as 40 percent of the vote.

The new system allows voters to rank the candidates in order of
preference. If no candidate wins a majority in the first round, the
candidate with the smallest number of votes is eliminated. Then, the
second choice of those who voted for that person are added to the votes
of the remaining candidates. The process continues until one candidate
wins a majority.
.

--
Rob Richie
Executive Director

F a i r V o t e
The Center for Voting and Democracy
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 610
Takoma Park, MD 20912
www.fairvote.org 
[email protected]
(301) 270-4616

Eliminate the 'wasted vote' syndrome by ranking candidates (1, 2, 3) and requiring a majority of votes to win. Consolidate local runoff elections into one money-saving vote.

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For more information: www.fairvote.org, www.midwestdemocracy.org, www.instantrunoff.com

MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT!
(Take five minutes every day for some IRV activism -- we'll only get better elections with your persistent, patient work. Word-of-mouth is your most powerful political weapon: use it!)