Instant Runoff Voting in New York City?

Instant Runoff Voting coming to the Big Apple?  Starting a system of instant runoff voting in New York City would join growing trend of election method reform worldwide. Thanks to democracy activist Richard Winger of election blog Ballot Access News, who posted New York City Bill for Ranked Choice Voting about the recent developments.  Take a look:

Two New York city councilmembers, Brad Lander and Gale Brewer, are introducing a proposed charter amendment for New York city Mayoral elections. It would provide for Ranked Choice Voting in partisan primaries for Mayor. See this story. Thanks to Michael Drucker for the news. The proposal, even if enacted, would not be in effect until 2017

From the article in New York Daily News by Erin Dirkin:

Backers say the new automatic system could avoid the trouble that’s been sparked by the difficulty of holding a primary and runoff two weeks apart with electronic voting machines – and save $20 million every election cycle the city spends on runoffs. Under the instant system, voters rank the candidates on the ballot in order of preference. If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the least votes is eliminated and their votes parceled out to the voter’s second choice – a process that continues until one candidate has a majority.  Currently, if no candidate gets 40% of the vote there is a separate runoff election between the two top finishers.

The Center for Election Science, friends of Democracy Chronicles had the following information about Ranked (also called Score) voting:

What is the best way for a group of people to make a collective decision? Easy: Score Vote. Voters rate each option on the ballot (for example, from 0-10), just like rating a product on Amazon.com, a restaurant on Yelp, or a movie on IMDb. When the voting is completed, the scores are tallied, and the option with the highest total score wins.

What are the advantages of Score Voting? Score Voting means that voters can express their preferences for any and all options on the ballot instead of being forced to pick only one. Because — when all the voters’ scores are added up — Score Voting clearly indicates the option with the broadest overall support, it is the best way for a group of people to make a collective decision.

Also take a look at instantrunoff.com that also covers election method theory from this angle. They had the following information about Instant Runoff Voting:

IRV is used on the municipal, state, and national level in governments around the world, as well as by non-governmental organizations and corporations. Interest in fair elections systems for student elections around the country has been gaining momentum, with about five dozen colleges and universities using IRV as of 2011 for single-winner offices like student body president. One organization that advocates Instant runoff voting is Fair Vote.  Take a look at their website which is worth a glance and also at some of their selling points:

Instant runoff voting allows for better voter choice and wider voter participation by accommodating multiple candidates in single seat races and alleviating the “spoiler effect,” which can result in undemocratic outcomes. IRV allows all voters to vote for their favorite candidate, while avoiding the fear of helping elect their least favorite candidate. It ensures that winners enjoy majority support when matched against their top opponents. Although used in most American elections, plurality voting does not meet these basic requirements for a fair election system. Compared to traditional runoff elections, IRV saves tax dollars, reduces money in politics and elects winners when turnout is highest.

From instantrunoff.com:

Endorsers of Instant Runoff Voting

Federal and Statewide Elected Officials, United States (partial list)

U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison (MN)
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (CA)
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH)
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (IL)
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (VT)
U.S. Rep. Tom Allen (ME)
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (MA)
Former U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (NJ)
Hon. Sharon Priest, former Secretary of State (AR)
Hon. Deborah Bowen, Secretary of State (CA)
Hon. Jim Condos, Secretary of State (VT)
Hon. Deborah Markowitz, former Secretary of State (VT)
Hon. Mark Shurtleff, Attorney General (UT)
Arne Carlson, Former Governor (MN)

State and National Organizations [partial list]

League of Women Voters

Arizona
California
Florida
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Vermont
Washington

Democratic Party Organizations

Alameda County, California
California
Colorado
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Progressive Democrats of America

Republican Party Organizations

Alaska
Green Party
Libertarian Party
ACLU of Southern California
AFL-CIO of New Mexico
Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC)
Common Cause
California
Massachusetts
Vermont
Grange
Vermont
National Latino Congreso
Sierra Club
Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE – Los Angeles)
U.S. PIRG
William C. Velasquez Institute

Newspapers (partial list)

USA Today
Washinton Post
Seattle Times (WA)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (MN)
Oakland Tribune (CA)
Sacramento Bee (CA)
News Tribune (WA)
Trenton Times (NJ)
San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Detroit Free Press (MI)
Harvard Crimson (MA)
Nation Magazine
Bangor Daily News (ME)
Bradenton Herald (FL)
Corvallis Gazette-Times (OR)
News Press (FL)
Pelican Press (FL)
St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Vancouver Columbian (WA)
Athens Banner-Herald (GA)
Michigan Daily (MI)
Pasadena Weekly (CA)
Peninsula Gateway (WA)
Minnesota Daily (MN)
Asheville Citizen-Times (NC)
Wilmington Star News (NC)
Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Lakeland Ledger (FL)
Daily Californian (CA)
Palm Beach Post (FL)
Juneau Empire (AK)
Brown Daily Herald (RI)
California Aggie (CA)
Ming Pao Daily (MN)