Instant Runoff Voting

Within the past few years, instant run-off voting (IRV) has been successfully used in several municipal elections across the nation. IRV enables one to vote for his/her true first choice, while indicating a second and third choice candidate. In the event that no candidate garners 50% plus one vote, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and voters who ranked that candidate first have their votes recast to their second choice candidate. This process is repeated until one candidate garners 50% plus one vote. IRV avoids sequential run-off elections and enables the voter to cast a "single transferable vote," ensuring that the winning candidate has a majority. Legislation to implement IRV was submitted in Maine last year.
Supporters claim that IRV guarantees that candidates win by a majority vote, not merely a plurality, and that it enables the voter to cast a vote for his/her favorite candidate without concern for whether the vote would be "thrown away" or work to bolster the showing of his/her least favorite candidate.
Concerns with IRV include the cost and voter education required to change our electoral system. IRV is not perfect -- no voting system is. And because Maine's constitution specifies that candidates be elected by a plurality of the vote, there is also a question of whether or not instituting IRV would require an amendment to our State Constitution.

Concurrence

Presently, LWVUS does not have a position on alternative voting methods such as IRV. However, eight state Leagues (MN, SC, CA, WA, MA, VT, AZ and FL) have conducted studies or otherwise adopted positions on alternative voting methods, including IRV. In order for LWVME to participate and advocate on this proposed change in Maine's voting system, LWVME's State Board has initiated the process of determining whether it can come to concurrence with one of those state League's position on IRV.
The State Board is currently educating itself on the pros and cons of various alternative voting methods. Following this educational process, the State Board will review the positions on alternative voting systems reached by other State Leagues and choose which position, if any, most closely aligns with its own conclusions. The Board will then assemble and distribute materials to the local Leagues to facilitate a discussion among members on the local level to determine whether there is a consensus in agreement with that state's position.

Learn More

If this subject excites you, please join in the conversation and participate in the process. Call 622-2056 or e-mail lwvme@gwi.net to get involved.
Here's where to learn more:
LWV California Study Guide
LWV Minnesota Study Guide
LWV Washington Study Guide
FairVote.org
Wikipedia on IRV

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: April 13, 2008 11:42 PDT.