Try instant runoff voting


By Julie Smith
Published July 26th 2005 in The Spokesman-Review

Why don't we give instant runoff voting a try in Spokane? Now that the courts have declared the "top two" primary unconstitutional, and voters disliked the "Montana style" primary used in the last election, let's try a voting method that is being used successfully and has been approved recently by the Legislature for use in Spokane city elections.

Voters are able to rank their votes in order of choice in the general election. This eliminates the expense of the primary and maximizes voter participation. It eliminates the "spoiler effect" because if your first choice gets less than 50 percent of the vote, your second choice vote is counted.

More choices is more democratic and it's constitutional, too!

Julie Smith
Spokane

IRV Soars in Twin Cities, FairVote Corrects the Pundits on Meaning of Election Night '09
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.

And as pundits try to make hay out of the national implications of Tuesday’s gubernatorial elections, Rob Richie in the Huffington Post concludes that the gubernatorial elections have little bearing on federal elections.

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