Oakland City Council members Nancy Nadel and Pat Kernighan called today for the city to have instant runoff voting, which they said would boost voter turnout and avoid costly runoff elections.

Speaking at a news conference in front of City Hall, Nadel and Kernighan said they're asking for the City Council to place their instant runoff proposal on the November ballot so the city's voters can decide if they want to implement such a system.

The matter is being discussed at the council's Rules and Legislation Committee meeting. Nadel and Kernighan hope the full council acts on it before the end of July.

The two council members said instant runoff voting is an election system that ensures a majority outcome in one election. Voters indicate their runoff choices by ranking their top three candidates. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, second- and third-choice votes are applied until a majority is achieved.

They said San Francisco successfully used such a system last November to save the time and cost of a second election.

Nadel said the rise in support for instant runoff voting among some council members comes after a record-low primary turnout statewide and a six-way race for mayor in Oakland that nearly ended in a runoff.

Kernighan noted that she faces a runoff in November because she only got 46 percent of the vote in a three-candidate race, less than the threshold of 50 percent plus one vote needed to avoid a runoff.

Nadel, who finished third in the mayor's race behind winner Ron Dellums and City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, said instant runoff voting would eliminate the municipal June primary so voters could elect all city offices by majority vote in a November election that would have a high turnout.

She said the turnout for November elections in Oakland is more diverse and is nearly 60 percent higher on average than the turnout in June elections.

Nadel said that with only one election, candidates could spend more time focusing on the issues and less time fundraising.

Nadel said Larry Reid is the only council member who firmly opposes instant runoff voting at this point.