Instant Runoff Voting proposed in Vermont
The Rutland Herald reports on the coalition that will seek legislative support for the pasage of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). IRV allows each voter to cast a ballot indicating her first, second, etc. choice. All ballots are counted according to the first choice. If one candidate gets 50% + of the votes, she wins. If not, the candidate with the lowest number of first choice votes is eliminated, and the ballots of that candidate are counted for the second choice on each ballot. The counting continues until one candidate has received a majority. For more information, see the Center for Voting and Democracy's explanation of the system.