Vermont State House and Senate Pass IRV Study Bill

Implementation of instant runoff voting one step closer in Vermont

On Wednesday, May 10, the Vermont State House voted in favor of a bill to study implementation of instant runoff voting (IRV) on the statewide level by 2008. The State Senate passed the measure on April 28.

The bill, backed by both the Senate Majority Leader and Speaker of the House, directs the Secretary of State to draw up the procedures for implementing IRV for statewide elections, including for members of Congress.

IRV has support from all elements of Vermont's civic community, including the League of Women Voters, Vermont PRG, Common Cause, the Grange, and Secretary of State Deb Markowitz.

[ FairVote Press Release ]
[ More on IRV in Vermont ]
[ Commentary by a VT Democratic candidate for governor ]

Burlington Holds "Flawless" IRV Election

On Tuesday March 7, Burlington, VT became the first city in the U.S. in over 30 years to elect its mayor using instant runoff voting (IRV) in what Vermont media termed a "flawless" election.  In addition, FairVote's Caleb Kleppner has written a report on the Burlington election, the links can be found below.

After the first round of counting, no candidate garnered the required majority to win outright. Progressive candidate Bob Kiss received 39% of first choices, Democrat Hinda Miller 31%, and Republican Kevin Curley 26%. At this point an instant runoff kicked in. Curley and two other independent candidates were eliminated and their supporters' second choices counted. This gave Kiss enough votes to cross the majority threshold and win the race.

Voters found the system easy to use and understand, and almost no trouble with the balloting was reported. In fact, out of every 1,000 voters in the mayoral race, 999 cast a valid ballot. The Progressive Party has been active in Vermont politics for decades, and Burlington has elected several Progressive mayors in the past under the previous plurality system.

[ Read "IRV deemed a success" in the Burlington Free Press ]
[ Read an AP story on the election ]
[ More on IRV in Vermont ]
[ Read Caleb Kleppner's Report on Burlington's Election (.pdf/396 Kb) ]
[ Read Caleb Kleppner's Election Analysis (.xls/3.05 Mb) ]

Burlington Voters Choose IRV

On March 1, Burlington voters gave instant runoff voting a landslide win. Even as other high-profile ballot measures went down in defeat, 62% of voters supported adopting instant runoff voting for mayoral elections.

Attention now turns to the Vermont's state legislature, where an IRV bill has been introduced with tri-partisan support and 43 sponsors. The bill (H. 385), calls for IRV in elections for United States senator and representative to U.S. Congress, electors for U.S. president, and all statewide offices.