-----
Original Message -----
To: Gary
Bartlett
Cc: John_Gilbert@ncsu.edu;
rdioncurrie@nc.rr.com;
tsteed8822@aol.com
Sent:
Subject: Re: Instant Run-off Voting Pilots
The Wake County
Board of Elections unanimously wishes to participate in the
instant run-off voting.
Do you know if the software for the M-100 will now support instant run-off
or if it is being developed and approved prior to the pilot?
Cherie Poucher, Director
Wake County Board of Elections
919-856-6245
cpoucher@co.wake.nc.us
"E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the
North
Carolina Public Records Law "NCGS Ch. 132" and may be disclosed to
third
parties."
"Gary
Bartlett"
<Gary.Bartlett@nc
To: "Directors.boe"
<directors.boe@ncmail.net>
mail.net>
cc:
Subject: Instant Run-off Voting
Pilots
09/06/2006
08:28
AM
Please contact me by email if your Board has interest in participating in
the either the instant run-off voting municipal or county pilots. Below
is
the pertinent portion of the bill. Thanks for your consideration.
SESSION LAW 2006-192
HOUSE BILL 1024
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) The State Board of Elections shall select local
jurisdictions in which to conduct a pilot program during the 2007 and 2008
elections for local offices using instant runoff voting. The State Board
shall select:
(1) Up to 10 cities for the 2007 elections.
(2) Up to 10 counties for the 2008
elections.
In selecting those local jurisdictions, the State Board shall seek
diversity of population size, regional location, and demographic
composition. The pilot shall be conducted only with the concurrence of the
county board of elections that conducts elections for the local
jurisdiction. If a city is selected that has voters in more than one
county, the concurrence of all the county boards of elections that conduct
that city's elections is required. The pilot program shall consist of using
instant runoff voting as the method for determining the winner or winners
of a partisan primary or a nonpartisan election that normally uses
nonpartisan election and runoff or nonpartisan primary and election.
Instant runoff voting may also be used to determine results in an election
where nonpartisan plurality elections are normally used, but only if the
governing board of the local jurisdiction concurs.
As used in this section, "instant runoff voting" means a system in
which
voters rank up to three of the candidates by order of preference, first,
second, or third. If the candidate with the most first–choice votes
receives the threshold of victory of the first–choice votes, that candidate
wins. If no candidate receives the threshold of victory of first–choice
votes, the two candidates with the greatest number of first–choice votes
advance to a second round of counting. In this round, each ballot counts as
a vote for whichever of the two final candidates is ranked highest by the
voter. The candidate with the most votes in the second round wins the
election.
The threshold of victory of first–choice votes for a partisan primary shall
be forty percent (40%) plus one vote. The threshold of victory for a
nonpartisan election and runoff or nonpartisan primary and election shall
be a majority of the vote. The threshold of victory in a contest that
normally uses nonpartisan plurality shall be determined by the State Board
with the concurrence of the county board of elections and the local
governing board.
If more than one seat is to be filled in the same race, the voter votes the
same way as if one seat were to be filled. The counting is the same as when
one seat is to be filled, with one or two rounds as needed, except that
counting is done separately for each seat to be filled. The first counting
results in the first winner. Then the second count proceeds without the
name of the first winner. This process results in the second winner. For
each additional seat to be filled, an additional count is done without the
names of the candidates who have already won.
Other details of instant runoff voting are as described in House Bill 1024
(First Edition) of the 2005 Regular Session of the General Assembly, with
modifications the State Board deems necessary, in primaries and/or
elections for city offices, for county offices, or for both. Those
modifications may include giving the voter more than three choices in case
of multi–seat contests. The State Board shall not use instant runoff voting
in a primary or election for an office unless the entire electorate for the
office uses the same method.