At its annual membership meeting, the Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition (Wilmont) voted, 24 to 6, to employ Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) to elect its officers, making it the first neighborhood organization to adopt IRV.
With IRV, Wilmont can eliminate the need for separate runoff elections while ensuring that each winner is supported by a majority of voters, as members of the board will rank their choices, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. when they vote for officers. When no candidate wins a majority of votes, an instant runoff is held among the top candidates.
The City of Santa Monica has been considering IRV on and off since 1992.
“IRV is the most efficient way to manage elections because it eliminates the need for run-offs and allows people to rank their true preferences,” said Rob Rader, Chair of Wilmont. “The Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition recognizes these important benefits and is proud to be part of this progressive electoral reform.”
With IRV, Wilmont can eliminate the need for separate runoff elections while ensuring that each winner is supported by a majority of voters, as members of the board will rank their choices, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. when they vote for officers. When no candidate wins a majority of votes, an instant runoff is held among the top candidates.
The City of Santa Monica has been considering IRV on and off since 1992.
“IRV is the most efficient way to manage elections because it eliminates the need for run-offs and allows people to rank their true preferences,” said Rob Rader, Chair of Wilmont. “The Wilshire/Montana Neighborhood Coalition recognizes these important benefits and is proud to be part of this progressive electoral 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.