RALEIGH, N.C. The state Senate today agreed to allow up to 20 counties and cities to try instant runoff elections as a way to avoid costly and poorly attended runoff elections a month or two after primaries.
The instant runoff would allow voters in local primary elections to rank their order of preference among the candidates listed.
The cities and counties haven't yet been selected.
Election officials first would tally only the first choices. If the leading candidate fails to win more than 40 percent of the votes, the top two candidates would advance to the runoff.
Election officials would then look at the ballots of voters whose preferred candidate was eliminated.
The candidates still left would get votes for being the highest-ranked alternative choice. Those votes would be added to the original tallies of the top two vote-getters and the candidate with the most total votes would win.
Instant runoffs are used in other states and in San Francisco.
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