Instant Runoff Voting

the best answer to WAshington's primary-Election dilemma

from IRV Washington

Many in Washington State have become bewildered and upset by the recent court mandated outlawing of the popular "blanket primary." Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) proponents believe they have the solution. It is the Initiative to legislators 318 (I-318) which solves the problem by eliminating partisan primaries and replacing them with voter ranking of candidates in a single IRV election. IRV, they contend, is far superior to either of the two rival substitutes, the "Montana primary" and the "Louisiana" which are currently embroiled in editorial debates, legal disputes and in challenges by referendum and initiative.

If IRV I-318 supporters get over 197,734 valid petition signatures on this initiative to the legislators between now and December 2004 then I-318 will be presented to the legislature when the legislative session for 2005 begins. The legislature then could adopt it, but if not I-318 would go to the voters who could make it the law by a 50% majority vote for it in the fall of 2005.

"Initiative 318 gives the voters all the freedom of choice they had under the blanket primary -- and much more," according to Brent White, long-time advocate for Instant Runoff Voting. "In ranking all the candidates in order of preference, voters are not bound by party labels and accomplish what they did in a blanket primary and only have to turn out to the polls one time a year instead of two. This also results in a great savings to Washington tax payers." According to the Washington Secretary of State Office, the elimination of the primary will save an estimated 13 million dollars per election cycle.

Some Democratic and Republican leaders are opposed to the elimination of the primary because they will be forced to fund their own nominating conventions for their candidates. It also should be noted that there is the notion held by many voters in Washington State that taxpayers should not have to pay for parties to select their own candidates.

In addition, supporters argue that with IRV the "primary" process is not necessary. White explains that "IRV is like a series of runoff elections all rolled into one. Here's how it works: Say my favorite candidate receives five percent of the first choice votes, whereas two front runners received 30-some percent each. My candidate is then out of the contest, but my second choice is now counted. The same thing happens with all other ballots for the eliminated candidate, i.e., those ballots are recounted and votes are redistributed to the second choices of those voters. This process continues until only one candidate wins by a majority of 50 percent not something like a 37 percent plurality as often happens in a field of 3 or more candidates."

"It should be pointed out that IRV, by result of ranking your preferred candidates, avoids the 'spoiler problem' caused by minor party candidates siphoning off votes from the major party standard bearers," says Jerry Cronk, Shoreline attorney and chief drafter of the initiative. "And with IRV," he notes, "every voter is free to vote his or her conscience, not having to worry about 'wasting' a vote on a worthy but dark-horse candidate."

IRV is the voting method used in Australia, London and Ireland. IRV has also been approved by voters in San Francisco and will soon be implemented there as well. IRV supporters in the U.S. come from all parts of the political spectrum and there is growing interest in this voting method.

"Many Democrats support this, many Republicans support this, third parties across philosophical boundaries to the left and right support this," White said.

IRV proponents say Initiative 318 is more democratic, will invigorate election turnout and would be a giant step forward for freedom of choice and fairness in Washington elections.

According to Taryn Gearhart, IRV I-318 campaign manager, this effort is a grassroots campaign made possible by non-paid signature gatherers who are committed to helping Washington State evolve the voting process into a more effective and fair method. The campaign is currently mobilizing the base of IRV supporters in Washington State to accomplish this end. Gearhart says, "We are currently standing on the edge of either having a poor replacement for the now defunct blanket primary or actually moving towards real meaningful electoral reform". Instant Runoff Voting has been explored by the Washington State Legislature and they know what the merits of it are. Regardless, there has been a failure to mention IRV in the dialogue surrounding the issue.

IRV and I-318 have received limited attention by the media thus far. Supporters of Instant Runoff Voting I-318 are trying to change that and show that IRV I-318 voters are clearly the winners.

For a more in-depth overview of Instant Runoff Voting I-318, to sign in to help and to see how it compares to other voting methods being proposed to solve the voting method dilemma please visit the IRV I-318 website at www.IRVWA.org or call Toll free 1-866-IRVWAORG.