U.S. Representative Peter Welch (VT)
Testimony to the Vermont Senate Government Operations Committee, March 15 2007.

As you know I supported the study last year and....the basic questions about when and how to implement any type of election reform is something that your committee obviously has to deal with. But on the basic question of Instant Runoff Voting, I believe that it does provide the voters with the tools helpful to them to maximize their preference in who they want to be the final, to be their office holder. And of course in Vermont it's particularly relevant because of the somewhat unusual constitutional provisions that we have with respect to constitutional officers that says that the legislature is supposed to be majority vote to determine who is the office holder in a situation where a person gets less than 50%. So I think in terms of democratic participation, keeping a decision about who will be the elected officeholder, IRV is the tool that enhances voter choice and as a general proposition is good for democracy.