By Cyndi Roy
Published February 2nd 2005 in State House News Service (MA)
If it's a good way to choose Academy Award winners, it may be a good way to elect state lawmakers.
It's instant runoff voting, an idea some Massachusetts legislators and advocacy groups are newly pushing as a way to fill vacated legislative seats.
A bill filed Wednesday by Rep. Frank Smizik (D-Brookline) would make instant runoff voting the method for conducting all special primary and general state elections. Supporters say it encourages voters to cast ballots in special elections and guarantees a consensus winner in contests
typically marked by a large field of candidates and relatively low voter turnout.
"Under the current method of voting, the likelihood of several candidates splitting the vote is very high," Smizik said at a press conference here Wednesday morning. "In fact, we've seen many such elections where candidates have been elected with less than 30 percent of the vote. It's anti-democratic and it does not serve the voters of the state."
Instant runoff voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first choice votes, the candidate with the lowest vote total is dropped from the ballot. The second choices of the voters who supported the dropped candidate are then counted to increase the vote totals of the remaining candidates. This process is repeated until a winner has received a majority vote.
"When I first heard about instant runoff voting my eyes rolled back in my head," said Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst). "It was the most complicated, convoluted process I had ever heard of. Since then, I have become an IRV convert. It's not very complicated once it's explained."
The concept of instant runoff voting was created in Massachusetts at MIT, according to advocates, and is used in Louisiana, New Mexico, and San Francisco. Other countries, including Ireland, also use it.
Other supporters said the runoff method prevents the "spoiler affect." Since candidates have to receive a majority, voters don't have to worry as much that voting for a less popular candidate will take votes away from another candidate.
"The current system perceives third or fourth party candidate as being spoilers," said Jim Henderson of MassIRV, a coalition of individuals and groups supporting runoffs. "There is no such thing as spoilers with this.
Voters at the end of the day don't have to be concerned because they can vote their heart."
Smizik said he sponsored the bill in light of upcoming special elections to
fill three House seats vacated by former Speaker Thomas Finneran of Mattapan, Rep. Brian Golden (D-Brighton) and Rep. Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield). All three resigned to take other jobs following their re-elections in November.
Tuesday was the deadline for candidates on those three special elections to file nomination papers with local election officials. Candidates must certify their nominating signatures with the Secretary of State's office by
Feb 8.
While there is little chance of Smizik's bill passing before the March 15
primaries or April 12 general elections, Smizik said he wanted to get people talking about IRV for future elections.
Five other instant runoff bills have been filed for this session by Reps. Story, Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), and Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington). Those bills would implement runoffs in state races, legislative contests, and congressional elections.
It's instant runoff voting, an idea some Massachusetts legislators and advocacy groups are newly pushing as a way to fill vacated legislative seats.
A bill filed Wednesday by Rep. Frank Smizik (D-Brookline) would make instant runoff voting the method for conducting all special primary and general state elections. Supporters say it encourages voters to cast ballots in special elections and guarantees a consensus winner in contests
typically marked by a large field of candidates and relatively low voter turnout.
"Under the current method of voting, the likelihood of several candidates splitting the vote is very high," Smizik said at a press conference here Wednesday morning. "In fact, we've seen many such elections where candidates have been elected with less than 30 percent of the vote. It's anti-democratic and it does not serve the voters of the state."
Instant runoff voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first choice votes, the candidate with the lowest vote total is dropped from the ballot. The second choices of the voters who supported the dropped candidate are then counted to increase the vote totals of the remaining candidates. This process is repeated until a winner has received a majority vote.
"When I first heard about instant runoff voting my eyes rolled back in my head," said Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst). "It was the most complicated, convoluted process I had ever heard of. Since then, I have become an IRV convert. It's not very complicated once it's explained."
The concept of instant runoff voting was created in Massachusetts at MIT, according to advocates, and is used in Louisiana, New Mexico, and San Francisco. Other countries, including Ireland, also use it.
Other supporters said the runoff method prevents the "spoiler affect." Since candidates have to receive a majority, voters don't have to worry as much that voting for a less popular candidate will take votes away from another candidate.
"The current system perceives third or fourth party candidate as being spoilers," said Jim Henderson of MassIRV, a coalition of individuals and groups supporting runoffs. "There is no such thing as spoilers with this.
Voters at the end of the day don't have to be concerned because they can vote their heart."
Smizik said he sponsored the bill in light of upcoming special elections to
fill three House seats vacated by former Speaker Thomas Finneran of Mattapan, Rep. Brian Golden (D-Brighton) and Rep. Peter Larkin (D-Pittsfield). All three resigned to take other jobs following their re-elections in November.
Tuesday was the deadline for candidates on those three special elections to file nomination papers with local election officials. Candidates must certify their nominating signatures with the Secretary of State's office by
Feb 8.
While there is little chance of Smizik's bill passing before the March 15
primaries or April 12 general elections, Smizik said he wanted to get people talking about IRV for future elections.
Five other instant runoff bills have been filed for this session by Reps. Story, Alice Wolf (D-Cambridge), and Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington). Those bills would implement runoffs in state races, legislative contests, and congressional elections.
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.