By Marie Bairey
Published December 3rd 2003 in Modesto Bee
Measure I, the proposal to amend the Modesto City Charter to move runoff elections to March, failed. This raises the question of how to structure elections that guarantee the winning candidates receive a majority (50 percent + 1) of the votes and the election is completed in a timely manner. In a Nov. 10 commentary, Lee Miller suggested adopting a one-round automatic runoff system.
At its 2003 Convention, the League of Women Voters, California agreed to support a voting method, such as Instant Runoff Voting, that does not require a separate second election to determine a winner.
Using instant runoff, voters rank the candidates; the preferred candidate is first choice and, in case their favorite is eliminated, their runoff choices are ranked second, third, etc. If the first count does not yield a majority winner, the Instant Runoff voting system proceeds.
Such a system saves the cost of conducting and campaigning in a second election. Results are available after a single election. It guarantees that winning candidates are elected by a majority of voters. Candidates must appeal to a broad base of voters to attract first or second choice votes.
For more information, check www.instantrunoff.com.
The League urges the city of Modesto and the Stanislaus County elections department to investigate implementing an Instant Runoff Voting system.
MARIE BAIREY
President, League of Women Voters
Modesto
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.