Content Categorized with "Instant Runoff Voting"
21 - 30 of 656 results
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RCV for the GOP: Mitt Romney, Fractured Conservatives, and the Importance of Rules in Determining Election Outcomes
- Posted: January 20, 2012
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home, Presidential Nominations Reform
Some conservatives wonder how Mitt Romney has become the favorite for the nomination in a Republican party moving rightward. Others embrace Romney. One problem for believers of both views is the plurality voting rule that means winners don't have to secure a majority. Plurality voting arguably has been negative for all parties involved in the nomination race—whether Romney or his more conservative challengers. The solution, FairVote argues, lies in the adoption of an alternative framework: ranked choice voting.
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Utah Republicans Use Instant Runoff Voting
- Posted: January 12, 2012
- Categories: 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 -
Understanding how the Iowa caucuses work – and don’t work
- Posted: January 3, 2012
- Author(s): Rob Richie
- Categories: Home, Instant Runoff Voting, Presidential Nominations Reform
The national media is in a frenzy about the Republican contest in tonight’s Iowa caucuses. Unfortunately, most journalists seem to be getting the story wrong – and a key reason is not understanding or even thinking about the rules and their implications.
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RCV Election Results: Portland and San Francisco
- Posted: November 18, 2011
- Author(s): Sheahan Virgin, Katie P. Kelly
- Categories: Ranked Choice Voting in Bay Area Elections, Instant Runoff Voting
Updated! This November, ranked choice voting (RCV) elections took place in six cities in the United States. Here is a visual breakdown of each ranked choice voting round in the San Francisco (CA) elections for Mayor, District Attorney and Sheriff and in the Portland (ME) mayoral election. In Portland, Michael Brennan led in the first round and was the strongest candidate in securing votes from backers of defeated candidates, winning with 56% when matched against his strongest opponent. In San Francisco, Interim Mayor Ed Lee led in the first round and also expanded his lead during the count, securing 60% of the final round tally.
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Portland’s Biggest Winner: Democracy with Ranked Choice Voting
- Posted: November 16, 2011
- Author(s): Dorothy Scheeline, Rob Richie
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home
What shouldn’t be missed in the fray of post-election coverage in Maine is the glorious five minutes of pure democratic spirit that everyone experienced when the round-by-results results of the first ranked choice voting election for Portland's mayor were presented before everyone's eyes. In what other instance would you have every single candidate in the race, their supporters, the media, community members that were just curious, all in one room, waiting to hear the results? For those five minutes, there wasn't any politicking, just democracy in action.
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SAN FRANCISCO VOTERS EFFECTIVELY USED RANKED CHOICE VOTING
- Posted: November 9, 2011
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Ranked Choice Voting in Bay Area Elections, Home, FairVote
Tuesday, November 8, San Francisco held Rank Choice Voting elections for mayor, sheriff, and district attorney. FairVote has analyzed public electronic ballot images and results of the elections. Almost all ballots cast were valid, and many voters ranked more than one candidate, indicating that San Francisco voters understand RCV.
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Portland Mayoral Election: One-Day Survey Results
- Posted: November 7, 2011
- Author(s): Dorothy Scheeline
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home
FairVote conducted a one-day survey of 122 early voters on Thursday, November 3 participating in Portland's first mayoral election in nearly a century. The survey reveals that Portland voters find their new ranked choice ballot easy to use and have experienced a mayoral campaign that has promoted civic engagement.
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Irish presidential election with instant runoff voting: Voter choice without "spoilers"
- Posted: November 6, 2011
- Author(s): Rob Richie
- Categories: Home, Instant Runoff Voting, Europe, Elections Worldwide
Our political leaders are again rolling the dice with the American people. Rather than pursue statutory solutions to potential electoral landmines, they've left intact a set of electoral rules that aren’t designed for elections where voters have more than two choices. Ireland last month showcased a better way in its elections. As with all other well-established democracies with presidential elections, Ireland elects its president based on a national popular vote. It uses instant runoff voting to uphold the goal of majority rule.
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Ranked choice voting in major elections
- Posted: November 4, 2011
- Categories: Ranked Choice Voting in Bay Area Elections, Instant Runoff Voting, Home
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:
- RCV in San Francisco: New opeds by Matt Gonzalez & Steven Hill
- Portland: Our Portlandvotes123.com, TV local news story and FairVote voter survey
- Coverage in Freakonomics
- Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio & Economist on San Francisco
- Associated Press on Portland
- Cambridge: Candidates for school board & city council
- Rob Richie blogs on Irish presidential election
- St. Paul elections: Voter education site & Star-Tribune commentary
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Occupy and Democracy Reforms: A Match Made in Heaven?
- Posted: October 19, 2011
- Author(s): Dorothy Scheeline
- Categories: Instant Runoff Voting, Home
Democracy reforms have the unique ability to challenge the status quo in a way that fits in very well with the goals of the Occupy movement. It’s a nonpartisan solution to inequality that challenges corporate influence in politics by changing the system to focus more on the voter and less on the candidate. Changing the structure of our electoral system is the first step to creating a space for more voices and points of view within our political process. Maintaining the system we currently have- a stilted, two-party system with low voter turnout isn’t an option any more.