Instant Runoff Voting

A nonprofit public policy think tank that is advocating the idea -- the Washington, D.C.-based New America Foundation -- said that instant runoff voting changes the nature of political campaigns. ... Original Article

Gautam Dutta of the New America Foundation, an election reform group that has been pushing for the council to consider IRV, refutes these criticisms. ...

Once upon a time, Hollywood cinematographers, disenchanted with black-and-white movies, embraced color film to more faithfully represent what they saw through the lenses of their cameras. Now Hollywood has taken an equally innovative step to represent the preferences of those who make the movies.

Virginia's Democratic gubernatorial primary made all sorts of national news last month. The more typical stories equated former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe's defeat with the end of the Clinton era. Yet, despite the abundance of coverage, one significant detail has been left out of the generally agreed upon "story" about Virginia's recent gubernatorial primary -- the losing candidates received more votes than the winner.

Steve Hill, who works at the New America Foundation and was one of the architects of IRV in San Francisco, pointed out that direct runoffs have been tried in San Francisco. "That what we used to have," he told me. "And we saw regular attack ads and ...

On June 11th, 2009, San Joses city leaders joined election experts for a discussion on instant runoff voting. Currently, in order to be elected to office in San Jose, a candidate must secure a majority of the votes cast. Sounds simple enough, but if no candidate receives a majority in the initial election, then a runoff election is held in which the top candidates must compete again. This process is lengthy, results in low voter turnout, and can cost $500,000… more

Media Contact Liz Wu California Media Relations Manager 510-295-9859 wu@newamerica.net

Executive Summary

San Jose uses a two-round runoff system to elect its mayor and city council, with the first election in June and a runoff election in November if no candidate wins a majority of votes in June. Voter turnout in the June general election is about half that of the November election, with turnout disproportionately lower among traditionally disenfranchised communities.  With most elections being decided in a low turnout June election, a small and unrepresentative segment of the community is having an oversized effect

California faces a crater-size, $24 billion deficit - and we're about to throw away millions more on three elections we don't need. But here's the good news: If we adopt Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV, for special elections, we can save that amount and more.

With IRV, taxpayers could save nearly $2 million July 14 (fittingly, Bastille Day).

Media Contact Liz Wu California Media Relations Manager 510-295-9859 wu@newamerica.net SACRAMENTO, CA - In the wake of Tuesday's record low voter turnout and the resounding defeat of five of six ballot measures proposed by the Legislature, the New America Foundation renewed its call for a fundamental overhaul of California's dysfunctional electoral system.