Instant Runoff Voting

A FairVote Innovative Analysis by Rob Richie and David Segal

Facts in Focus:

* Michael Steele was in second place when the Republican National Committee chair race was reduced to four candidates on January 30 but he picked up more than twice as many votes as his chief opponent from the supporters of the third and fourth place candidates after they dropped out.


* The Academy of Motion Pictures has used the choice voting method of proportional representation for all their major Oscar nominations since the 1930s. Academy voters rank potential nominees in order of preference, and more than four in five have at least one of their top-ranked choices win a nomination.


* Instant runoff voting has been adopted for student elections by more than 40 American colleges and universities. Tens of thousands of students rank their choices every year, often in highly competitive races with many candidates. Instant runoff voting will be used to accommodate five candidates for mayor in Burlington's second IRV election for mayor this March.

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