Landslide Victory for IRV in Takoma Park, MD

In a good day for reform, San Francisco reports well-run elections

In an advisory ballot measure placed on the ballot by a 7-0 vote of the Takoma Park city council, fully 84% of voters voted for the proposal to have future city elections use instant runoff voting. A majority of the city council is committed to implementing the new system in time for the mayoral and city council races in 2007.

All signs are good for San Francisco's first city-wide IRV election too, where a second round of counting has begun for the city Assessor's race. IRV may help Phil Ting be elected as Assessor-Recorder with a majority of support while not splitting the Asian American vote.

Meanwhile, Cambridge (MA) had another in a long string of successful ranked ballot elections for city council.

[ FairVote's Takoma Park IRV page ] NEW!
[ Read FairVote's News Release ]
[ More on Cambridge elections ]
[ More on San Francisco elections ]

Election Solutions for Louisiana's Displaced Voters

Ensuring Representation for People of the State a Priority

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana voters and election administrators will face numerous challenges that threaten to undermine the state’s democratic processes. A key concern is that with thousands of displaced voters living without stable mailing addresses, absentee voting will be difficult.

Louisiana currently uses a two-round runoff system that will exacerbate this problem, because absentee voters will have to receive and return ballots not once, but twice, within a very short period of time. With the rapid changes occurring in many hurricane victims' lives, it is unclear that their mailing addresses will be the same between the first and second round elections. Louisiana therefore expand its current use of ranked ballots for overseas voters to include displaced Hurricane Katrina victims, to ensure that these voters are not disenfranchised in the state's runoff elections.

[ Read FairVote's Full Proposal ]

Takoma Park City Council Votes Unanimously to Put IRV on Ballot

Hopes are high for November election

The city council in Takoma Park, Maryland voted unanimously on October 6 to place on the ballot an advisory measure to enact instant runoff voting. If passed in November, IRV would be used for electing the city council as well as the mayor, replacing the current plurality voting method.

Takoma Park would join San Francisco, Burlington, VT, and Ferndale MI as one in a recent nationwide series of victories for IRV. The reform is growing momentum within political parties too, as instant runoff voting was also endorsed recently by the Democratic Party of both Iowa and California.

[ Visit the official Takoma Park for IRV website ]
[ Read Rob Richie's article in the Takoma Voice ]
[ The Gazette covers IRV in Takoma Park ]