By Adam Kleppner
Published March 13th 2009 in The Caledonian Record
To the Editor:
Burlington just conducted an election for mayor using Instant Runoff Elections. This method quickly produced a candidate with a majority vote in a field of four candidates. It eliminated the need of a runoff election which would have required further campaigning on the part of the candidates and additional expense by the taxpayers.
IRV is used by a number of cities throughout the country and by numerous organizations as well as by some foreign countries. It has proved to be an efficient way of electing someone with a majority vote in elections in which there are more than two candidates. It should be used not only in Burlington but in all state-wide elections for both federal and state offices.
Adam Kleppner
Wardsboro, Vt.
Burlington just conducted an election for mayor using Instant Runoff Elections. This method quickly produced a candidate with a majority vote in a field of four candidates. It eliminated the need of a runoff election which would have required further campaigning on the part of the candidates and additional expense by the taxpayers.
IRV is used by a number of cities throughout the country and by numerous organizations as well as by some foreign countries. It has proved to be an efficient way of electing someone with a majority vote in elections in which there are more than two candidates. It should be used not only in Burlington but in all state-wide elections for both federal and state offices.
Adam Kleppner
Wardsboro, Vt.
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.