Instant runoff pilots recommended by N.C. House panelUp to 10 counties would use instant runoff voting in local elections this year and next in a pilot project recommended Wednesday by a House committee.
With instant runoff voting, voters would rank their order of preference among the candidates listed. Election officials initially would count the first choice of each voter and count the totals.
If the leading candidate fails to win more than 40 percent of the first-choice votes, only the top two candidates would advance to the runoff.
In the runoff, election officials would examine the ballots of the votes whose first-choice candidate was eliminated. Those ballots would then be counted for the remaining candidate who ranked highest as an alternative choice.
These totals would then be added to the totals of the ballots that ranked the uneliminated candidates as the voters' first choice. The person with the most votes would be declared the winner.
Supporters of instant runoff voting say it would reduce the cost of a separate runoff election, which can cost millions of dollars in a statewide election. Runoffs often attract a small fraction of the voter turnout of the
first election.
The State Board of Elections would choose which counties would participate in the project, which could cover primaries and elections for city offices, county offices or both.
The original bill filed by Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, would have called for instant runoff voting in partisan primaries for statewide offices and appellate court races in some cases.
The measure, approved on a voice vote by the House Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform Committee, now goes to the full House for the consideration.
With instant runoff voting, voters would rank their order of preference among the candidates listed. Election officials initially would count the first choice of each voter and count the totals.
If the leading candidate fails to win more than 40 percent of the first-choice votes, only the top two candidates would advance to the runoff.
In the runoff, election officials would examine the ballots of the votes whose first-choice candidate was eliminated. Those ballots would then be counted for the remaining candidate who ranked highest as an alternative choice.
These totals would then be added to the totals of the ballots that ranked the uneliminated candidates as the voters' first choice. The person with the most votes would be declared the winner.
Supporters of instant runoff voting say it would reduce the cost of a separate runoff election, which can cost millions of dollars in a statewide election. Runoffs often attract a small fraction of the voter turnout of the
first election.
The State Board of Elections would choose which counties would participate in the project, which could cover primaries and elections for city offices, county offices or both.
The original bill filed by Rep. Paul Luebke, D-Durham, would have called for instant runoff voting in partisan primaries for statewide offices and appellate court races in some cases.
The measure, approved on a voice vote by the House Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform Committee, now goes to the full House for the consideration.
