In the recall election, the majority of California voters picked a loser --yet again.

Arnold Schwarzenegger received 48 percent of the vote in the Oct. 7 recall election. In other words, more people voted against him than for him. In 2002, Gov. Gray Davis won with 47 percent of the vote.

Majority rule is a basic requirement of democracy. The will of a minority should not defeat the will of the majority, as it did in the last two gubernatorial elections.

We need a way to promote majority rule in a single election to make sure that doesn't happen again. We need a system that helps candidates win with less campaign cash. We need a system that allows us to vote for the candidate we like without helping to elect the one we don't.

We need instant-runoff voting or IRV.

IRV works simply. All you have to do is pick your favorite candidate, followed by your second and third choices.

If a candidate has a majority of first choices, he or she wins. If no one receives a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated, and the instant runoff begins. Your vote counts for your favorite candidate who is still in the race.

The process is repeated until one candidate receives a majority of votes. There is no need for a separate runoff election, so we save millions of dollars. We improve voter turnout by giving voters more choices. We promote positive, rather than negative, campaigning.

On Oct. 7, Republicans who preferred Tom McClintock could have listed him as their first choice and Schwarzenegger as their second choice. Democrats, Greens and independents who preferred Peter Camejo and Arianna Huffington could have listed them as their first and second choices and Cruz Bustamante as their third choice.

If we had IRV in our last presidential election, Pat Buchanan, Ralph Nader and other minor party candidates would have been eliminated, leaving voters with a clear, final choice between Al Gore and George Bush. Whoever won, we would know the person won because he or she represented the will of the majority of Americans.

Instant-runoff voting is used to elect the mayor of London, the president of Ireland and the Australian House of Representatives. San Francisco voters have approved a ballot initiative that would allow them to rank their top three preferences for the offices of mayor, district attorney and sheriff. Eventually, it will eliminate the need for the city's usual December runoff.

IRV eliminates the "spoiler" problem. Minor candidates could no longer threaten major candidates. Voters can vote their conscience, giving their first-choice vote to a candidate they think may not win or make it to the runoff without fear of "wasting" their vote.

IRV promotes positive campaigns. Candidates will need to persuade voters to give them their first- or second-choice votes. Attack ads and negative campaigning will not entice voters to give a mudslinging candidate their second-choice vote.

IRV boosts voter turnout. Runoff elections can have extremely low turnout.

Because in each runoff tally every voter's ballot is counted for the candidate the voter most prefers among those still in the race, the winner is always the candidate preferred by the true majority.

A bill has been introduced in Sacramento -- Senate Constitutional Amendment 14 by Sens. John Vasconcellos, Deirdre Alpert, Sheila Kuehl, Jack Scott and Jackie Speier -- that would establish IRV in California elections. An initiative is also in the works.

IRV would ensure that everyone's vote counted,, that no candidate would win without a majority.

In this computer age, there is no reason to accept less than full democracy.

(Al Sheahen lives in Sherman Oaks. He is a member of Results, a citizens lobby working to end hunger at home and abroad.)