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  • Try Ranked Choice Voting!

     

    Whenever a race for governor has more than two candidates, more than half the voters can strongly oppose the "winner" in a traditional plurality system. To eliminate "spoilers" and embrace voter choice, a growing number of cities and colleges are moving to the instant runoff form of ranked choice voting (RCV). It's used to pick the Best Picture Oscar and is now under serious consideration for statewide elections.

     

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  • FairVote analysis in national news

    On February 12th, FairVote executive director Rob Richie was a guest on CSPAN television's Washington Journal, aired live around the nation. That day he also had the first and final letters in the New York Times' "Invitation to Dialogue" series on voting reform. FairVote staff and interns have been publishing many articles in 2012.

    Rob Richie on CSPAN

    New York Times "Invitation to Dialogue"

    Fair voting op-eds in St. Louis Post-Dispatch & Austin American-Statesman

    FairVote blogs on Huffington Post & Oped News

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  • Utah Republicans Use Instant Runoff Voting

    The Republican Party in Utah used Instant Runoff Voting this week to elect a replacement for a state senate vacancy in a seven-candidate race.  Indeed about a half dozen current Republican state lawmakers first won office in a similar way. In 2004, the state convention used IRV when former governor  Jon Huntsman was first nominated.

    Account of this week's election

    Round by Round results from Davis County Republican Party

    Article about past use of IRV to fill 2009 vacancy 

    Articles & analysis of 2002 & 2004 state conventions using IRV

    Article on Utah testimony on adopting IRV for state offices

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  • Ranked choice voting in major elections

    Ranked choice choice voting (RCV, or instant runoff) accommodates voters having more than two choices at the polls. This month, San Francisco (CA) will elect a mayor and two other citywide leaders with RCV. Portland (ME) and Telluride (CO) will elect mayors in hotly contested RCV races, and St. Paul (MN) and Takoma Park (MD) will elect city councilors with RCV. In Ireland, Michael Higgins was elected president with RCV, breaking out of a 7-candidate field for a landslide win thanks to a combination of strong first choice rankings and backup preferences from supporters of losing candidates. Cambridge (MA) will use the choice voting form of RCV that provides fair representation to its voters.

    FairVote has been deeply involved in many of these implementations and will be tracking elections closely next week. Although controversial with some, RCV is working well -- and has strong backing from almost all mayoral candidates in both Portland and San Francisco. For more on the races, see:

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  • Ranked Choice Voting in Action

    Ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting ensures that the candidate that wins an election wins the majority of the vote. Voters will use ranked choice voting this fall in several exciting races: wide-open elections for mayor in San Francisco (CA) and Portland (ME); the presidential race in Ireland; and for other city races in the U.S., including St. Paul (MN). New voter education initiatives are helping show how easy ranked choice voting is for voters, and there have been excellent media stories.

     

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  • Big Rhode Island win for better voting & IRV

    On July 13th, Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed H 6176 into law. Introduced on May 19th with the backing of FairVote Rhode Island, the bill passed the state Senate 35-2 and  House 70-0. It establishes a voter choice study commission charged with studying ranked choice voting (RCV, or "instant runoff voting) and other options designed to increase voter participation and accountability, uphold majority rule and produce fiscal savings. The commission will issue a report by January 2012. A report by a similar commission in Colorado in 2007 led to a 2008 law allowing all localities to use RCV.

    Rhode Island has a history of electing candidates with only plurality support, including the 2010 governor's race won with 36%. RCV would avoid "spoiler" dynamics in such election.

    Additional Links:

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  • Oscars Modify Nomination Process, Keep Proportional Representation and IRV

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has a long history of using innovative voting methods to select the winners of its annual Academy Awards, recently announced some changes in the way nominations for the sought-after Best Picture award will be determined. The organization announced Tuesday that, beginning next year, a modified system similar to choice voting will be used to select Best Picture nominees.

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  • California Democracy Dreaming

    California's tradition of pace-setting changes in the United States bodes well for reformers. Instant runoff voting (IRV, ranked choice voting) gained more validation in the Bay Area, with a definitive federal court ruling unanimously upholding its legality in San Francisco and a broadly supported "Champion of Democracy" event in in Oakland. The National Popular Vote plan for president earned an easy win in the Assembly and should reach Gov. Jerry Brown's desk this year. The legislature also advanced sensible changes to increase secure access to voting.

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  • Instant runoff progress from Hawaii to Maine

    Instant runoff voting (IRV), the ranked choice voting system that upholds majority rule in multi-candidate races, keeps advancing. The Hawaii House of Representatives this week unanimously passed legislation to use IRV in county elections that currently are decided by plurality voting in the wake of controversial, low-plurality victories. Across the nation, the League of Women Voters of Maine, after a multi-year study, endorsed IRV election of candidates in single seat races. Meanwhile, we will see IRV races this year in cities like St. Paul (MN), Telluride (CO), Portland, ME) and San Francisco (CA). The Associated Press this week featured the role of IRV in the wide-open San Francisco race for mayor.

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  • Oscar Stars Back UK's Referendum on IRV

    The British have a chance to reject their U.S.-style electoral system in favor of instant runoff voting (called "the alternative vote", or AV in the United Kingdom). Legislation to establish a May 5th national referendum cleared parliament this week, and polls show IRV can win. Britain has had a large rise in third party voting in recent decades, and IRV is a sensible step toward better accommodating voter choice and avoiding the "spoiler" controversy.

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