By Cathy Gilbert
IRV ensures representatives are elected with a majority of the vote and in a single election making life--and elections--simpler, fairer, and much less costly!
IRV is on a current wave of appeal across the country. From California to Massachusetts. IRV is being studied and promoted or passed into policy. San Francisco passed it last year, over 50 Vermont towns have endorsed a League of Women Voters proposal to use it for statewide elections, the GOP of Utah uses IRV and many state and local gov's are working on similar proposals. Last term Senator Anna Cowin (Republican) proposed IRV for Fla. primaries. IRV is used in many clubs, schools and organizations including the Academy Awards, the American Political Science Assoc. (who study voting systems) and several Ivy League universities.
Other countries using some form of IRV include Ireland, England, Germany, Australia and Costa Rica.
Proportional representation is for multiple seat elections such as for commissioners or boards and it's the way we chose our pizza. We used it to democratically select 5 pizzas for 28 attendees and 2 presenters.
We each filled a ballot ranking our preferences for different pizza toppings... full veggie, pepperoni and ham, mushroom and onion, etc. Since you weren't necessarily going to be able to get your first choice (at least 5 others in the room would need to vote similarly to guarantee that) it was in your best interest to mark your second and third choices and in fact we could rank all 8. The ballots were collected and sorted-- every group of 6 votes for the same type of pizza elected one with that topping. (12 veggie lover votes translated to 2 veggie pizzas). Rankings were used to resolve under-threshold groupings.
PR has been around a long time and is used successfully around the world. In fact, of the 40+ nations considered "full-fledged democracies" only four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Mongolia) do not use Proportional Representation for at least one national election.
The workshop was fun and educational. Keep your eyes open for the next training on Election Reform-- you are sure to be inspired and you may even be fed your favorite pizza.
INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING (IRV)
HOW IT WORKS
Voters rank the candidates - first choice, second choice, third choice, etc. The ballots are then sorted by first choice. If someone gets a majority, he/she wins. If no one gets a majority, the last place candidate is eliminated, and all the ballots recounted. If your first choice is still in the running, your ballot stays with your first choice. But if your first choice is eliminated, then your ballot goes to your second choice. This process is repeated until someone gets a majority, usually only one or 2 rounds of runoff needed.
IRV trumps Delayed Runoffs and Plurality Method Voting
IRV does not share the weaknesses of either plurality or "delayed runoff" systems. Because Instant Runoff Voting ensures a majority winner, democracy is more clearly served than with plurality voting. And because voters can rank their candidates, folks can vote freely, unafraid of "spoiling" elections. They can back up their 1st choice with the insurance of a 2nd choice. No more "wasted votes" and no more splitting votes from a would-have-been.
By eliminating the need for a second election, IRV eliminates the weaknesses of delayed runoffs as well. 'Poof' to the extra work, the timing issues, and the heavy cost to taxpayers. Voter turnout is at its peak since voters are already at the polls for the larger primary. Campaigns are more issue based and less negative, since candidates, now interested in winning 2nd choice votes as well as 1st place votes, are wary of offending supporters of other candidates.
Finally and maybe most importantly, IRV does not split constituencies, pitting natural allies against each other over voting strategies, and so communities can become more effective as they work together on issues of common concern.
IRV elects representatives with a MAJORITY of the vote in a SINGLE election.
IRV. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3.
IRV--Examples of NOT SPOILING a race
Women could support Carol Mosley-Braun in the Democratic primaries, the one woman candidate in their lineup, without throwing away their chance to influence final tallies for the front runners.
Californians could vote for 1 of the dozens and dozens and perhaps consolidate behind someone with a platform. The winner would have more of a mandate if he/she could demonstrate support from the majority.
In Nov., 2004, folks could vote for their 3rd party favorite, without tossing away a chance to declare a preference between the More-Likely's (ok, Inevitables).
Republicans and Democrats could feel comfortable about friends voting for alternatives as their first choice, knowing that on those same ballots their Big League Candidates would be in line to inherit the votes.
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.