The following information about ranked choice is an excerpt from a local paper you can continue reading here: www.memphisdailynews.com

Shelby County Election Commissioners are going to court to settle a conflict over ranked-choice voting. The five-member commission voted unanimously Tuesday, Dec. 12, to file suit against the state election coordinator and the city of Memphis in Davidson County Chancery Court.

The purpose is to get a ruling on whether the use of RCV via a 2008 city charter amendment is valid or if a September opinion from state election coordinator Mark Goins saying there can be no use of RCV is valid. The charter referendum is binding on the election commission and so is the legal opinion from Goins.

An article about the move by the election method reform group FairVote remarked, “The implementation of RCV saves taxpayers approximately $250,000 a year on election costs. Eliminating low turnout runoff elections will also ensure winners are selected in a higher turnout contest”. According to them:

In 2008, Memphis, Tennessee adopted ranked choice voting (RCV) by a landslide, with 70 percent of voters in favor of a city charter amendment. RCV, also known as instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates in order of choice and eliminates the need for runoff elections.