The Pierce County Charter Review Commission on June 17 approved a measure to add instant runoff voting (IRV) to the ballot for county elections. Appearing on the ballot this November 7th along with a similar measure in Minneapolis (MN), the measure would trigger IRV elections in 2008.

With more than 750,000 people, including the city of Tacoma, Pierce County would join San Francisco as one of the two largest jurisdictions in the nation using IRV. The proposal has a unique twist that would address the problem of low-turnout primaries in states across the nation. Parties would use private means such as conventions or caucuses to nominate one or more candidates for each office, but voters would have a full range of choice among all candidates in one high turnout general election -- avoiding low turnout primaries in August in favor of a spoiler-free, choice-filled majority election in November.

IRV has a history of serious debate in Washington. In 2005, the Washington state legislature passed HB 1447, which empowered various cities to consider a change to IRV.

FairVote on June 7 released its new report Majority Rule in International Presidential Elections: The Dominant Role of Runoffs Around the World. The paper comes on the heels of centre-left candidate Alan Garcia's victory in Peru's presidential runoff. Ollanta Humala, a populist with ties to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, led in the first round with just over 30%. Without a majority requirement and runoff, Humala would have won, contrary to the wishes of most Peruvians.

Majority Rule looks at presidential election systems in 28 democracies with high Freedom House ratings. 21 use runoffs and instant runoff voting to ensure majority winners. Two more use runoffs to ensure winners achieve minimum pluralities. Only one - the United States - has an Electoral College system that allows the popular vote winner to lose an election. Each system has important consequences for majority rule, voter choice and campaign style.

[ Read the abstract and download the paper in PDF ]