The Colorado legislature on May 6th gave final passage to HB 1378, a bill to allow all Colorado municipalities and special districts to use instant runoff voting and choice voting. A model for other states, the bill was drafted as a result of recommendations from a legislature-initiated task force on voting methods last year that reviewed a wide array of voting methods, including alternative single-winner methods like approval voting and range voting.Kudos to Colorado advocates such as Common Cause's Elena Nunez, FairVote Colorado's Rick Van Wie, state representative John Kefalas and senate majority leader Ken Gordon. Two Colorado localities -- Basalt and Aspen -- already have adopted instant runoff voting for mayoral elections.
[Colorado Voter Choice Task Force Report]
[Bill history for HB 1378]
[Commentary in favor of instant runoff voting in Denver]
[Commentary in favor of instant runoff voting in Aspen]
On May 1, London held its third mayoral election using a form of instant
runoff voting. The Conservative Party's Boris Johnson defeated Labor
Party incumbent Ken Livingstone, winning 53% to 47% in the instant
runoff. This election had the city's best turnout ever -- a 20% increase
compared to the 2004 elections.
On April 4, Vermont governor Jim Douglas chose to veto legislation to re-establish majority elections for Congress in his state through instant runoff voting. Vermont would have been the first state to enact IRV for Congress; legislative leaders affirmed their commitment to the bill, and it is sure to move in the state again. FairVote has worked hard to support this legislation, which likely generated more than 600 phone calls to the governor from Vermonters.
