Burlington IRV Race Heats Up

With the entry of a Progressive candidate into the mayor's race, and a City Councilor weighing an independent bid, IRV looks on track to be put to the test in Burlington, Vermont.

The election in March will be the first time in Vermont that an elected official will be chosen by IRV, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of first, second, third, fourth and more choices, rather than vote for just one. The decision to use IRV won by a landslide margin on a ballot question in March of last year.

IRV is supported by former Vermont Governor Howard Dean as well as independent Congressman and former Burlington mayor Bernie Sanders, and nationally by such figures as John McCain and Barak Obama.

[ FairVote's IRV in Vermont page ]
[ Learn who else supports IRV ]
[ Read a recent oped by Bill McKibben on IRV in Vermont ]

California Legislators Call for Citizens Assembly on Electoral Systems

Bipartisan support for citizens to consider putting proportional voting on ballot

Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike are citing the need for broad reforms, such as proportional voting, to overhaul the state's broken electoral system. Members of the California Assembly plan to introduce legislation in 2006 that would create a representative body of 80 citizens from all over the state to study election problems. The citizens would make recommendations that would either be adopted legislatively or submitted as a ballot initiative to face voters.

FairVote has long advocated such a plan for California, as it would avoid the accusations of partisan motivations that clung to all sides of the recent redistricting reform debate.

The bipartisan proposal for a citizens assembly also received early support from California's New America Foundation, which pushed for a similar model based on the success an assembly in British Columbia. There, the assembly ultimately recommended choice voting.

[ Article on the proposed citizens assembly ]
[ Article on the legislation ]
[ FairVote's Proposal for a California citizens assembly ]
[ Information on the British Columbia citizens assembly ]
[ Bill information for ACA 28/Citizens Assembly on Electoral Systems Act ]