By Krist Novoselic
Published March 3rd 2009 in Seattle Weekly
Incumbent mayor Bob Kiss won Burlington, Vermont's second instant runoff voting (IRV) election for mayor in which voters had the power to rank five candidates in order of preference. In Washington we call this system Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). First used in Burlington to elect its mayor in 2006, instant runoff voting essentially combines a first round and a runoff election into one.
The Burlington election was a model of clean, open debate without "spoiler" concerns. Democratic city councilor Bill Keogh was quoted in the local daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, as saying, "This campaign has been very, very good" and that the four leading candidates had been "as forthright as they can be with their views. This is the most respectful and informative campaign in Burlington in a long time."
That's a major benefit of Ranked Choice Voting - less negative campaigning. Remember all of the negative political advertising in last fall's Top-Two campaign? It seemed like the nasty commercials were never going to stop! If you're tired of negative campaigning you should check out Ranked Choice Voting.
The Burlington election was a model of clean, open debate without "spoiler" concerns. Democratic city councilor Bill Keogh was quoted in the local daily newspaper, the Burlington Free Press, as saying, "This campaign has been very, very good" and that the four leading candidates had been "as forthright as they can be with their views. This is the most respectful and informative campaign in Burlington in a long time."
That's a major benefit of Ranked Choice Voting - less negative campaigning. Remember all of the negative political advertising in last fall's Top-Two campaign? It seemed like the nasty commercials were never going to stop! If you're tired of negative campaigning you should check out Ranked Choice Voting.
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.