Groups still calling for instant runoffBy Wilson Ring
Published December 17th 2002 in Associated Press
MONTPELIER -- The Vermont chapter of the League of Women Voters and six other groups are renewing their call for the Legislature to enact an instant runoff voting system that would guarantee a clear winner in every election.
If such a system had been in place this year the Legislature would not be required to elect the state's next governor and lieutenant governor as it will do on Jan. 9.
"We can make democracy work better in Vermont than in any other state," said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, another of the groups calling for instant runoff. "It will reduce cynicism."
The League, VPIRG and the other groups have banded together in a group they have dubbed the "Voters Choice Coalition." They are planning to present to lawmakers petitions asking for such a system. They have already collected 300 signatures and are continuing their petition drive.
For the past several years advocacy groups have asked the Legislature to enact such a law, but none has received enough support to become law.
The need for an instant runoff system was clear this year when neither the governor nor lieutenant governor received the majority of the votes needed to be elected. Neither Gov.-elect James Douglas nor Lt. Gov.-elect Brian Dubie will be officially elected by the Legislature until the day they take office.
Prior to the election there was some concern that a losing candidate might not tell lawmakers to cast their secret ballots for the highest vote getter, although it turned out the popular vote losers have ended their campaigns.
"We were expecting to be in a state of confusion right now," Burns said
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.