Instant run-off voting is an idea that is gaining traction across the country as a way to breathe more life back into our political system.  So many people believe that their vote is wasted, that they have to vote for one of the two major parties, that there are no candidates that represent them.  Instant Run-off Voting (IRV) could solve these problems and help us to get a government that is supported by the majority.

Here’s how it works:  When you go to vote or vote from home, rather than choosing your candidate, you rank as many or as few candidates as you want in order of preference.  When all the votes are in, the votes for the candidates ranked #1 are tallied just like a regular ballot.  If no candidate gets 50%, the people who voted for the candidate with the least number of votes get their number two choice added to the count and their #1 candidate is removed.  If that doesn’t give a candidate with over 50%, another round is added where the people who voted for the new least popular candidate get their #2 votes added to the tally and their number #1 choice is dropped.  Here’s an example:

There are 4 candidates and 100 voters.  The candidates are Bill, Ann, Mike and Mary.  The first round of voting looks like this:

Bill: 30

Ann: 10

Mike: 32

Mary: 28

So after the first round, we eliminate the votes for Ann.  Three people chose Bill as their second choice, the rest chose Mary.  Round Two looks like this:

Bill: 33

Mike: 32

Mary: 35

Even though Mike was the most popular in the first round, he is eliminated in the second, but since there is still no winner, we need to do a third round with Mike out.  10 of his votes go to Mary, while the remainders go to Bill.

Bill: 55

Mary: 45

Now we have a consensus candidate.

There are a number of other benefits to this system, including getting rid of the spoiler effect and the elimination of primaries which limits the campaign season and keeps costs down.

More info at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting

http://www.fairvote.org/irv/

http://www.instantrunoff.com/

And a cool animation walkthrough here:

http://www.chrisgates.net/irv/