Thirty-eight Vermont state representatives have introduced H396, which would provide that Vermont use Instant Runoff Voting for gubernatorial elections (the general election only). The preamble to the bill makes the case that the idea is consistent with the Vermont Constitution. There has always been ambiguity in Vermont over whether the State Constitution is consistent with IRV in gubernatorial elections.
Ballot Access News
Edited By Richard Winger
Burlington had a remarkable IRV election for mayor earlier this month that has boosted the case for instant runoff voting in the state. Voters handled the system extremely well with virtiually no additioanl voter education — just a good ballot design and clear instructions. Of nearly 9,000 ballots in the mayoral race, only one was invalid — 99.99% validity. There were five candidates, and the Progressive Party incumbent was re-elected after trailing a Republican state legislator in first choice rankings. See http://www.burlingtonvotes.org or more
It is interesting that participation varied so much among the various wards. 3 individual wards had more votes cast than the combined total from the 2 low participation wards. The low participation wards also had high rates of votes going exhausted.
Is there something intrinsic to an IRV election that prevents Burlington from reporting the results for city councilor elections held at the same time (using FPTP)?