[EM] Burlington's first post-IRV mayoral election

[robert bristow-johnson]

Well, for the time-being, I'm gonna have to hold my peace and let the 
anti-IRV Democrats crow for at least 3 years.  When IRV was repealed in 
2010, one year after the infamous 2009 IRV election where the IRV 
winner, the Plurality winner, and the Condorcet winner were 3 different 
candidates, the battle was largely fought among Democrats since the GOP 
has always been against IRV and the Progs have always been for it.  (My 
position was to keep IRV so to keep the ranked ballot and later try to 
make history by being the first government to adopt a Condorcet 
method.)  IRV was defeated in 2010 and, along with it, ranked-choice 
voting.  A year after that was an attempt to raise the threshold for 
winning from 40% to 50% and that referendum was defeated.  It appeared 
to many of us that the GOP and DINOs were conspiring to arrange an 
election method specifically so that their candidate would win.  The fix 
was in.

This year the Progressives did not run a candidate, but an independent 
candidate (Wanda Hines) that was thought to appeal mostly to the same 
base that the Progs appeal to *did* run and the fear that the GOP 
candidate (the *same* GOP candidate from 2009, Kurt Wright) would be 
elected with 41% of the vote was prevalent.  Most of us thought that 
Kurt would win.  Everyone knew that Wanda would not be an equal player, 
so unlike 2009 where there were three roughly equally strong candidates 
(which was the source of failure for IRV), there were two contenders and 
one potential classic spoiler.

It didn't happen, much to my astonishment:

  http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/CT/Elections/Results---DMS-Documents/2012/Annual-City-Election-Results/

So, for the time being, losing the ranked ballot hasn't hurt the cause 
of majority rule in Burlington Vermont, but when the Progs decide to 
jump back into the game, I still fear it might.

Sorry for not updating you folks earlier.  I was pretty wrecked last 
night and this morning.  Finally got over the hangover this evening.

-- 

r b-j                  rbj at audioimagination.com

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."