Electoral reform in Congress may have a positive impact for those
pushing instant runoff voting (IRV). With nearly $3 billion likely to
be flowing to the states to modernize voting equipment, IRV has become
technically feasible.
In an IRV system, voters have the option to rank as many candidates as they wishótheir favorite candidate first, their next-favorite second, and so on. If no candidate is the first choice of more than half the voters, the ballots are redistributed to reflect votersí second and third choices until someone wins a majority of the ballots and is declared the winner.
This alternative voting system, promoted by the Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org/irv) has gained more political appeal in the wake of the last U.S. presidential election, because voters want to be able to register preferences for independent parties and candidates without being seen as spoilers. Supporters in states and cities where IRV is being considered tend to be those most disenfranchised by the current plurality systemónot only the independent parties, but some major parties, like the Democrats in New Mexico, who have been losing races to Republicans partly because of support for Green candidates.
San Franciscans may become the vanguards for IRV when they vote in March on an IRV city charter amendment. If approved, it will be the first ballot measure to implement the system in the United States since Ann Arbor adopted it in 1974. Advocates in the Bay Area include the local Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, and Common Cause. If successful, surrounding communities might follow suitóOakland, Berkeley, and Santa Clara County. Alaska will consider a ballot initiative in August, and two dozen town meetings in Vermont will vote on IRV in the spring. Congress and more than a dozen legislatures have considered IRV proposals, but thus far none has approved such an election reform.
In an IRV system, voters have the option to rank as many candidates as they wishótheir favorite candidate first, their next-favorite second, and so on. If no candidate is the first choice of more than half the voters, the ballots are redistributed to reflect votersí second and third choices until someone wins a majority of the ballots and is declared the winner.
This alternative voting system, promoted by the Center for Voting and Democracy (www.fairvote.org/irv) has gained more political appeal in the wake of the last U.S. presidential election, because voters want to be able to register preferences for independent parties and candidates without being seen as spoilers. Supporters in states and cities where IRV is being considered tend to be those most disenfranchised by the current plurality systemónot only the independent parties, but some major parties, like the Democrats in New Mexico, who have been losing races to Republicans partly because of support for Green candidates.
San Franciscans may become the vanguards for IRV when they vote in March on an IRV city charter amendment. If approved, it will be the first ballot measure to implement the system in the United States since Ann Arbor adopted it in 1974. Advocates in the Bay Area include the local Democratic Party, the AFL-CIO, the Sierra Club, and Common Cause. If successful, surrounding communities might follow suitóOakland, Berkeley, and Santa Clara County. Alaska will consider a ballot initiative in August, and two dozen town meetings in Vermont will vote on IRV in the spring. Congress and more than a dozen legislatures have considered IRV proposals, but thus far none has approved such an election reform.
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.