Source: The Washington Post (via Ballot Access News)

CONGRATULATIONS to D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D) for winning Tuesday’s special at-large election and also to Elissa Silverman (D) for a strong showing as a first-time candidate. But the abysmal voter turnout that saw a winner supported by roughly 3 percent of eligible voters must prompt concern about how these elections are held. Not only does the District need to examine how to boost voter participation but it also Read more »

Source: Crain’s New York Business (via Ballot Access News)

Can’t decide between two candidates for mayor? You might be able to pick both of them in this year’s primary election.

The Board of Elections is exploring “instant runoff voting” in this year’s citywide races, allowing voters to select their first and second choices for citywide offices at the ballot box in September. Such a system would obviate the need to hold a second election between the top two vote-getters in a primary. Read more »

Source: San Francisco Chronicle (via Ballot Access News)

San Francisco has conducted 45 ranked-choice-voting elections since November 2004, including 30 for the Board of Supervisors and 15 for citywide offices. Multiple rounds of counting were used in 20 contests to declare a winner. We now have lots of evidence to assess how well ranked-choice voting works.

No electoral system is perfect, but we believe ranked-choice voting has improved San Francisco’s Read more »

Source: Ballot Access News

Maine State Senator Dick Woodbury (I-Yarmouth) and Representative Janice Cooper (D-Yarmouth) have introduced a bill to use Instant-Runoff Voting for gubernatorial elections. See this detailed story. The bill proposes a change in the State Constitution.

Click here to read Ballot Access News comments on this article

Source: Ballot Access News

John B. Anderson has this op-ed in the October 19 Sacramento Bee, advocating that all states use Instant-Runoff Voting for presidential elections. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.

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Source: Ballot Access News

This San Francisco Bay Guardian article describes the political maneuvering in San Francisco concerning Instant Runoff Voting and a proposed repeal of that system, which was first approved in San Francisco in 2002. Earlier this year, an attempt to repeal IRV was defeated in the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Now a new attempt, to repeal it only for the executive offices, is under way.

Source: Ballot Access News

On June 14, at noon, the Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will hear a proposal to eliminate Instant Runoff Voting for the city’s executive position elections. The hearing is in Room 250 in City Hall.

The proposal provides that for Mayor, Public Defender, District Attorney, Sheriff, City Attorney, Assessor-Recorder, and Treasurer, Instant Runoff Voting would no longer be Read more »

Source: Ballot Access News

Mark Schmitt, writing for The New Republic, comments here on Americans Elect, and then goes on to recommend Instant-Runoff Voting in presidential general elections. He also recommends that states permit fusion (i.e., letting two parties jointly nominate the same candidate).

Schmitt says only five states permit fusion, although he does not name them. Actually Read more »

Source: Ballot Access News

Opponents of Instant Runoff Voting have not prevailed this year, in their attempts to persuade Oakland, California, to abandon it. See this story. The city council will not repeal it, and the opponents’ plans to circulate an initiative to repeal it have been called off.

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Source: Ballot Access News

The April 6 Washington Post has this editorial, deploring the low turnout in the April 2012 primary in Washington, D.C., and suggesting that the city consider using instant runoff voting. The editorial is not detailed, and one wonders if the editors are also implicitly suggesting non-partisan elections for Washington’s city elections. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link. Read more »