IRV in Action

Ranked-choice voting systems are currently being used with great success in the United States and around the world. San Francisco passed Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) in 2002, and has now used the system in two city-wide elections. Voters adapted to RCV very quickly and in exit polls have expressed great support for the system. Burlington, VT used IRV earlier this year to elect its Mayor. IRV is also used at the state level in Louisiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina, where overseas military voters can rank candidates on their absentee ballots, allowing them to take part in runoff elections.

Interest in IRV is spreading throughout the U.S. The North Carolina senate recently voted to start using IRV in judicial elections throughout the state and at the same time create an IRV pilot program in ten cities and ten counties. At the city level, IRV has passed in Ferndale, MI, Takoma Park, MD, and Berkeley, CA. Ranked-choice voting was approved by voters in November 2006 in Oakland, CA, Davis, CA, Pierce County, WA, and Minneapolis, MN.

Many college students are already familiar with IRV, as it is used for student body elections at over thirty colleges and universities around the United States, including institutions such as Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, CalTech, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Stanford. Furthermore, a number of organizations -- including the American Political Science Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- use Instant Runoff Voting.

Though IRV is a new reform in many U.S. communities, cities and countries around the world have used ranked choice voting systems for decades. The Republic of Ireland has used IRV to elect its president since 1922. Australia has used ranked voting to elect its House of Representatives since 1949 and to elect most state and territory lower houses. Malta has used IRV to elect its president since 1921. Ranked voting is also used in London, Scotland and New Zealand.

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