Independence Party members didn't vote for just one presidential candidate at their precinct caucuses, they ranked them. And they ranked Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., No. 1.

The party conducted an experiment with instant-runoff voting, in which a voter ranks each candidate with a number. If nobody receives an absolute majority in the first round, the last-place candidate's ballots are redistributed based on his or her supporters' second choice. Vote-counters repeat the process until one candidate has at least 50 percent.

Supporters like instant-runoff voting because it eliminates the spoiler effect of third-party candidates.

"Nobody's vote is wasted, and somebody wins with a majority," said Independence Party member Dave Hutcheson. "We like those two things."

About 500 people attended the Independence Party caucuses last Tuesday and cast instant-runoff ballots for president. Since the party wasn't running a candidate, the ballots included Edwards and other Democratic contenders, plus President Bush and Ralph Nader.

In the first round of balloting, the vote was 22 percent for Edwards, 21 percent for John Kerry, 17 percent for Bush and 15 percent for Nader. It took 11 rounds to pick a winner: Edwards won with 53 percent.

The vote wasn't binding since the Independence Party is a state party only and doesn't send delegates to other parties' conventions. And Edwards quit the race last Wednesday.

But it demonstrated how the process works. The Minnesota Senate has already passed a bill allowing Roseville to use instant-runoff voting in a city council election next month, and the House is considering it.

Rob Rossi, who is with the instant-runoff advocacy group FairVote Minnesota, said local elections are the best place for people to see how the voting works and may dispel fears about its complexity.

"We think the best possible outcome is for people to try it," he said.