Instant-runoff voting: Difference between revisions

Line 3:

Outside the USA, IRV is known as the '''[[Alternative Vote]]''', '''[[preferential voting]]''', '''single-winner STV''', or the '''[[Thomas Hare|Hare]] System''', though there is room for confusion with some of these terms since they can also refer to STV in general. In the US, IRV is also known as Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), a term useful for describing the voter's experience as well as the appearance of the ballot.

Instant-Runoff Voting was invented around 1870 by American architect [[William Robert Ware]]. Ware was not a mathematician, thus never subjected his election method to any rigorous analysis. He evidently based IRV on the single winner outcome of the [[Single Transferable Vote]] or STV developed in 1855 originally by [[Carl Andrae]] in [[Denmark]]. It was introduced into [[England]] in 1857 by the [[barrister]] [[Thomas Hare]], where it earned public praise from [[John Stuart Mill]], an English philosopher, member of parliament, and employee of the [[British East India Company|East India Company]].

⚫

IRV is used to elect the Australian House of Representatives, the lower houses of most of Australia's state parliaments, the President of Ireland, the Papua New Guinea National Parliament, the Fijian House of Representatives~~, and the Parliament of Nauru~~. See below for a more detailed list.

⚫

IRV is used to elect the Australian House of Representatives, the lower houses of most of Australia's state parliaments, the President of Ireland, the Papua New Guinea National Parliament, and the Fijian House of Representatives. See below for a more detailed list.

== How IRV works ==

Line 90:

Line 92:

Ireland uses STV to elect its own parliament and its delegation to the European Parliament (by the multi-member variant), and its President (by the single-member variant). Northern Ireland also uses the multi-member variant for elections to its Assembly and for its European Parliamentary MPs. Malta uses the multi-member variant for its parliamentary elections.

In the Pacific, ~~the multi-member variant of STV is used to elect the parliament of Nauru, while~~ the single-member variant is used for the Fijian House of Representatives. Papua New Guinea has also decided to adopt it for future elections, starting in 2007. The Fijian system has been modified to allow for both "default preferences", specified by the political party or candidate, and "custom preferences", specified by the voter. Each political party or candidate ranks all other candidates according to its own preference; voters who are happy with that need only to vote for their own preferred candidate, whose preferences will automatically be transferred according to the ranking specified by the candidate. Voters who disagree with the ranking, however, may opt to rank the candidates according to their own preferences. In the 2001 election, about a third of all voters did so. The ballot paper is divided by a thick black line, with boxes above (for the default options) and below (for customized preferences).

In the Pacific, the single-member variant is used for the Fijian House of Representatives. Papua New Guinea has also decided to adopt it for future elections, starting in 2007. The Fijian system has been modified to allow for both "default preferences", specified by the political party or candidate, and "custom preferences", specified by the voter. Each political party or candidate ranks all other candidates according to its own preference; voters who are happy with that need only to vote for their own preferred candidate, whose preferences will automatically be transferred according to the ranking specified by the candidate. Voters who disagree with the ranking, however, may opt to rank the candidates according to their own preferences. In the 2001 election, about a third of all voters did so. The ballot paper is divided by a thick black line, with boxes above (for the default options) and below (for customized preferences).

The countries mentioned above all use STV for some or all of their municipal elections. Starting in 2004, some municipal areas in New Zealand also adopted STV to elect mayors (by the single-member variant) and councilors (by the multimember variant). Political parties, cooperatives and other private groups also use STV and/or IRV.

Line 100:

Line 102:

=== Adoption in the United States ===

Suggested by Robert's Rules of Order, instant-runoff voting is increasingly used in the United States for non-governmental elections, including student elections at many major universities.

Suggested by a recent version of Robert's Rules of Order, instant-runoff voting is increasingly used in the United States for non-governmental elections, including student elections at many major universities.

Notable supporters include Republican U.S. Senator John McCain and 2004 Democratic presidential primary election candidates Howard Dean and Dennis Kucinich. The system is favored by many third parties, most notably the Green Party and the United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian Party, as a solution to the [[spoiler effect|"spoiler" effect]] third-party sympathizers suffer from under plurality voting (i.e., voters are forced to vote tactically to defeat the candidate they most dislike, rather than for their own preferred candidate). In order to increase awareness of the voting method and to demonstrate it in a real-world situation, the Independence Party of Minnesota tested IRV by using it in a [[straw poll]] during the 2004 Minnesota [[caucus]]es (results favored John Edwards).