Instant Runoff Voting


This November, the voters of Portland (ME) will get the chance to decide if they would like to use instant runoff voting to elect their mayor, after a special Charter Commission recommended IRV by an overwhelming margin of 9 to 1. Eight elections since 2004 have yielded only plurality winners who have taken office with less than 48% of the vote. If Portland enacts IRV, the voters of Portland will begin ensuring majority-supported winners beginning in 2012.
After a much-anticipated vote, ranked-choice voting is a go in San Leandro.
"Instant-runoff voting is working in communities across the country, including San Francisco and Burlington, Vt., and has tremendous potential to democratize our politics."
Parties have great opportunities to review and improve their election systems by incorporating reforms that give more voters an equal voice and an equal vote. From representative delegate allocation regimes to ranked choice voting and expanded suffrage rights, a political party's nomination process can be a true laboratory of democracy.