In a 16-12 vote, the Senate approved the use of instant runoff voting, a system in which voters would be asked to rank order their choices for Congress in order of preference. If no one candidate drew a majority of the first-place votes, the second choices of voters would be taken into account.
The legislation calls for the system � which was used in last year's Burlington mayoral race � to be used beginning in 2008 for Vermont's lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. If approved, Vermont would be the first state in the nation to use it, officials said.
It's unclear whether the House will have time to act on the measure before the Legislature adjourns next month, said House Speaker Gaye Symington, D-Jericho.
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders favor runoff voting. The two, who testified in support of it before a legislative committee last month, say it would help address a provision in the state Constitution that gives the power of naming a winner in some statewide races to the Legislature when there's no clear majority.
Gov. Jim Douglas opposes it.
"He believes fundamentally in one person, one vote," said spokesman Jason Gibbs.
State Sen. Hinda Miller, who lost the Burlington mayoral race in the first trial of instant runoff voting, is against it, also.
"I don't think it really gives an honest evaluation of who people choose first," she said. "This is a game of chance," said Miller, D-Chittenden.
Miller said that during her campaign, her camp spent time trying to predict how instant runoff voting would affect the race. "It becomes a significant part of the campaign � who should you vote for second? It got very confusing for all of us."
