On March 16th, Former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean continued his support for instant runoff voting on Vermont Radio's Mark Johnson Show. Commenting on Burlington's recent IRV election, Dean said "I think the best and most democratic way to use to elect people in multiparty elections is instant runoff voting." Dean also supported the system when it was first used in Burlington in 2006.
Citizens of Burlington, Vermont went to the polls on Tuesday, March 3rd to vote for the second time in an election using instant runoff voting. At 8:25 PM, the city declared that incumbent Mayor Bob Kiss had won reelection in the third and final round of counting, narrowly edging out challenger Kurt Wright, 51.5% to 48.5%. The race was unique in that it had four candidates that had a legitimate shot at winning: Progressive Kiss, Republican Wright, Democrat Andy Montroll, and independent Dan Smith. In most other American cities, there would be fear of "spoiler" candidates, but IRV allowed all four candidates to run without having to worry about being labeled "spoilers."
On April 4, Vermont governor Jim Douglas chose to veto legislation to re-establish majority elections for Congress in his state through instant runoff voting. Vermont would have been the first state to enact IRV for Congress; legislative leaders affirmed their commitment to the bill, and it is sure to move in the state again. FairVote has worked hard to support this legislation, which likely generated more than 600 phone calls to the governor from Vermonters.
Progressive Wins 2nd Round in BurlingtonBy Ross Sneyd
Published March 8th 2006 in Associated Press
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- The Progressive Party candidate for mayor started
his campaign late and was outspent by the Democrats. But Bob Kiss won
the office, thanks in part to a new election system that ensures a
winner is decided on election night, even in a five-way race.
Kiss, a state representative, received 39 percent of the vote on the first ballot Tuesday, while Democrat Hinda Miller had 31 percent and Republican Kevin Curley won 26 percent.
Curley and two trailing independent candidates were then dropped out of the count and their votes re-allocated according to voters' second choices. Kiss won on the second count, with 4,761 votes to Miller's 3,986.
"I think it ran really smoothly," said Jo LaMarche, the city's election director, just after the announcement of Kiss' win.
Under instant runoff voting, also known as ranked-choice voting, residents voted for their first choice for mayor, but then listed as well their second, third, fourth and fifth choices in the five-way race.
The aim is to settle highly competitive contests with a single trip to the voting booth, saving the city thousands on runoff elections.
Burlington was being closely watched by advocates of various election reforms. Some cities in Washington state have been given the option of using instant runoff voting and San Francisco already has elected some city officials under the system. A small city in Michigan also is expected to adopt the practice soon.
Although small itself, Burlington got attention because it's the largest city in Vermont and because it was the hometown of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, a supporter of instant runoff voting who cast his ballot Tuesday morning.
Kiss will succeed Mayor Peter Clavelle, who announced last year he would not seek an eighth two-year term in the city of nearly 40,000 people.
Kiss, a state representative, received 39 percent of the vote on the first ballot Tuesday, while Democrat Hinda Miller had 31 percent and Republican Kevin Curley won 26 percent.
Curley and two trailing independent candidates were then dropped out of the count and their votes re-allocated according to voters' second choices. Kiss won on the second count, with 4,761 votes to Miller's 3,986.
"I think it ran really smoothly," said Jo LaMarche, the city's election director, just after the announcement of Kiss' win.
Under instant runoff voting, also known as ranked-choice voting, residents voted for their first choice for mayor, but then listed as well their second, third, fourth and fifth choices in the five-way race.
The aim is to settle highly competitive contests with a single trip to the voting booth, saving the city thousands on runoff elections.
Burlington was being closely watched by advocates of various election reforms. Some cities in Washington state have been given the option of using instant runoff voting and San Francisco already has elected some city officials under the system. A small city in Michigan also is expected to adopt the practice soon.
Although small itself, Burlington got attention because it's the largest city in Vermont and because it was the hometown of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, a supporter of instant runoff voting who cast his ballot Tuesday morning.
Kiss will succeed Mayor Peter Clavelle, who announced last year he would not seek an eighth two-year term in the city of nearly 40,000 people.
