Majority rule and genuine voter choice are marks of a functioning democracy. To support voter choice in high turnout elections, we act to encourage understanding, adoption and effective implementation of instant runoff voting, a ranked choice voting system used in a growing number of American elections.
IRV on Ballot and Before Legislature in Vermont's Biggest City

A binding measure for IRV will be one of the questions on the March ballot in Vermont's largest city. This follows a non-binding vote in November, when Burlington voters supported IRV by a two-to-one margin.

With support from former governor Howard Dean, the League of Women Voters, AFL-CIO, and others, Vermont's Secretary of State is urging the legislature to adopt IRV for statewide offices as well.



Exit Poll in San Francisco Shows Favorable Results for IRV
Widely Preferred and Understood

An exit poll commissioned by the City and carried out by the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University indicates that a large majority understands and prefers the newly-instituted IRV election system. Some key figures:

  • Only 13% of respondents would like to go back to the old two-round runoff system.
  • 87% said that they understood instant runoff voting.
  • No more than 23% of any one racial and ethnic group reported not understanding IRV--despite the fact that a big turnout presidential race brings out a lot of new voters and people who skip over races for the Board of Supervisors.



Three Big Wins for Instant Runoff Voting
At the polls in Michigan, Massachusetts, and Vermont, voters showed strong support for IRV.
 
Proposal B on Ferndale, Michigan's ballot won by a lopsided 69%-31% margin. The proposal amends Ferndale's city charter to provide for election of the mayor and City Council through the use of IRV pending the availability and purchase of compatible software and approval of the equipment.

Voters in 16 western Massachusetts towns approved a non-binding motion in support of IRV, by a margin of 11,956 to 5,568.

In Vermont, voters in Burlington overwhelmingly passed an advisory referendum on whether the city charter should be amended to use IRV for the election of the mayor.

[Press Release on Ferndale IRV win]


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Recent Articles
October 30th 2009
Don Fraser and George Latimer: The case for instant-runoff voting is clear
Star Tribune

Two former politicians tell St. Paul voters that IRV is "vitally important to us as citizens and as members of our communities."

October 29th 2009
Plurality voting rule is the real election spoiler
Baltimore Sun

In the midst of 3-way races in NJ and NY, FairVote board member and 1980 presidential candidate John Anderson makes the case for IRV over our flawed plurality system.

October 25th 2009
CHARTER AMENDMENT 3: County voters would lose power
The News Tribune

Amendment 3 to the Pierce county charter is an attempt by incumbent politicians to rig the system and prevent any serious challengers from competing. IRV is simply too fair and too democratic to not keep using in our electoral system.

October 22nd 2009
St. Paul should join IRV bandwagon
Star Tribune

Star Tribune stands behind IRV voting. They believe that if this system is used in St. Paul, it will show the state of Missouri that IRV can work and can better represent the voters in the state.