One way to advance ranked choice voting methods, like instant runoff voting and choice voting, is to persuade your state or local political party to pass a resolution in support of ranked choice voting. Below are two sample resolutions submitted by Democratic Party activists. Please email [email protected] if you plan on advancing such a resolution.

Instant Runoff Voting (Proposed Amendment to State Platform)

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Whereas Democrats believe in the value of majority winners,

Whereas Al Gore would likely have been elected President in 2000 if instant runoff voting had been used instead of plurality voting,

Whereas instant runoff voting has been used successfully in the US, other countries, and for the Student Senate at the University of Washington,

Whereas instant runoff voting would allow Democrats and other progressive parties to collectively oppose the election of Republicans,

Whereas the Platform for the Washington State Democratic Party already supports an “inclusive campaign and debate process that does not exclude credible third party candidates”,

Whereas Democratic leaders like DNC Chair Howard Dean, Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, and President-Elect Barack Obama support instant runoff voting,

Be it resolved that the “Government and Political Reform” section of the Platform of the Washington State Democratic Party should express support for the use of instant runoff voting.



Ranked Choice Voting Systems

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Whereas Democrats value the cardinal virtue of representative democracy whereby the elected leaders should reflect the diversity of the electorate,

Whereas most modern democratic countries, both among the industrialized democracies of Europe and newly democratic countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, use proportional representation,

Whereas the plurality voting system in the United States has many flaws including the possibility of electing a President with less than 50% of the vote,

Whereas Al Gore would have been elected President if instant runoff voting were used instead of plurality voting,

Whereas Democratic leaders like Barack Obama, Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich support instant-runoff voting,

Be it Resolved that we support ranked-choice voting systems that include proportional representation and instant runoff voting.