The Mirror has teamed with Ferndale for Instant Runoff Voting (FIRV) to present a test case involving our readers.

Instant Runoff Voting is a method of electing a single winner that provides an alternative to plurality elections in which the highest vote getter wins even if he receives less than 50 percent of the vote.

Here's how IRV works: Voters rank candidates in order of choice: first, second, third and so on. It takes a majority -- more than 50 percent -- to win. If a candidate receives a majority of the first choice votes, then he's elected. If not, the last place candidate is defeated and all ballots are counted again. In the second "instant runoff" count, each ballot cast for the defeated candidate counts for the next choice candidate listed on the ballot. The process of eliminating the last place candidate and recounting the ballots continues until one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

In short, IRV is an instant series of runoff elections in which one candidate is eliminated each election. In each round, every voter has one vote for a continuing candidate.

If only two candidates are running for an office, IRV doesn't apply to the election barring a massive write-in campaign. Also, voters don't have to rank all the candidates.

IRV in use

IRV was developed in the 19th century and is used around the world. Ireland uses IRV to elect its president, Australia to elect its lower house and London to elect its mayor. In San Francisco, IRV will be used in November to elect its board of supervisors (city council).

FIRV wants Ferndale to use IRV for its mayoral race, and it plans to put an IRV initiative on Ferndale's 2004 election ballot. IRV supporters in Royal Oak plan to introduce the system to elected officials soon.

Participation

The Mirror has teamed with FIRV to conduct an IRV experiment involving readers. Read the IRV ballot and vote for your favorite flavor of ice cream. Cut it out and send it to IRV, Mirror Newspapers, 1523 N. Main, Royal Oak, MI 48067. Ballots may also be dropped off at the office or e-mailed to Executive Editor Steve Stein at [email protected]. Type "IRV" in the subject line.

Please include your hometown, but not your name. We encourage comments. Please don't vote more than once. We also ask that only readers age 18 and older vote.

We'll run the ballot in the next issue along with a final IRV article. Results will be shared with FIRV and we'll publish them Feb. 12.