Executive Summary of Exit Poll Findings of January 30, 2007
By Adam Bartolanzo
Published March 29th 2007
Takoma Park (MD), a suburb of the District of Columbia, adopted instant runoff voting (IRV) in 2006 after it won 84% approval in an advisory ballot measure on November 8, 2005. Residents first used the system in a city council vacancy election in Ward 5 on January 30, 2007. Three candidates sought to fill the vacancy. FairVote conducted an all-day exit poll, surveying 39% of total voters. Key findings include:
- Only one invalid ballot and two voter errors in any rankings.
- Over 80% of voters used two or more rankings.
- Public education led to over 83% knowing they would use IRV.
- Over 88% thought IRV was easy to use.
- Over 55% thought the campaign under IRV was less negative than under winner-take-all.
- Over 88% wanted to use IRV in future elections.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.