[EM] "IRV" in the news

[Brian Olson]

"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they attack you.  
Then you win."

If this is somewhere between laughing at us and attacking us, we  
should be on schedule to get better election methods around here in  
the next couple years. :-)

Also, I really hope this is reporter error and they're not actually  
implementing the broken bizarro-IRV described in the article.

And of course we all hope that the "radical way to think when you go  
to the polls" is "who do you really want" instead of "who do you  
strategically want and compromise for".

On Jul 21, 2006, at 3:04 PM, Jonathan Lundell wrote:

> I like IRV OK, and better than many on this list. But where do they
> come up with this stuff? (I do like the last graf, though.)
>
>
>
> Bill for 20 instant-runoff elections passes Senate
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> Thursday, July 20, 2006
>
> RALEIGH
> A wide-ranging election bill approved by the N.C.
> Senate yesterday will allow up to 20 counties and
> cities to try "instant runoffs" as a way to avoid
> costly and poorly attended runoff elections.
>
> The bill would also increase the time between primary
> elections and runoffs from four weeks to seven weeks.
> State elections officials have said they need more
> time to canvass primary-election votes and mail out or
> send absentee ballots for overseas and military voters
> for those elections.
>
> The instant-runoff program would allow voters in local
> elections to rank their order of preference among the
> candidates listed. Election officials would first
> tally only the first choices. If the leading candidate
> fails to win more than 40 percent of the first-choice
> votes, the top two candidates would advance to the
> runoff.
>
> Election officials would then examine the ballots of
> voters whose preferred candidate was eliminated. The
> remaining candidates would get votes for being the
> highest-ranked alternative choice. Those votes would
> be added to their original tally and the candidate
> with the most total votes would win.
>
> Instant runoffs are already used in other states as
> well as in San Francisco, said Sen. Dan Clodfelter,
> D-Mecklenburg, who called them a way to eliminate the
> costs of holding runoff elections, which generally
> have low turnout rates.
>
> Others worried that instant runoffs may change
> campaign strategies.
>
> "This method of voting would lead to a very odd and
> radical way to think when you go to the polls," Sen.
> Doug Berger, D-Franklin. "This appears that this is an
> idea from San Francisco, and I say we should leave it
> in San Francisco."
>
> This story can be found at:
> http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle 
> %2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149189266508&path=% 
> 21localnews&s=1037645509099
>
> -- 
> /Jonathan Lundell.
> ----