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North Carolina Green Party
http://www.ncgreenparty.org
May 30, 2005
CONTACT: Elena Everett, 919.413.1276, greentararaider@yahoo.com
Hart Matthews, 919.416.6168, hart@durhamdigital.com
RALEIGH: The North Carolina House voted in favor
last week of a bill that would allow some counties to begin using
instant-runoff voting (IRV) in primaries. The IRV bill was introduced by
Rep. Paul Luebke of Durham and was supported by Democracy North Carolina
and the North Carolina Green Party, among others. The bill passed on May
18 by a bipartisan vote of 79-32.
"This was such a surprise," said Elena
Everett, chair of the state Green Party. "We didn't expect this
bill to come up for a vote in the House this year. This is such
important legislation. It could save the state millions of dollars in
election years and encourage more democratic participation in
government."
Instant-runoff is a form of balloting that prevents
expensive runoff elections and, if used in partisan elections,
encourages third-party participation while preventing
"spoiling" by non-major party candidates.
On an IRV ballot, voters rank the candidates for
each office in order of preference. If the first round of ballot
counting does not yield a winner, the candidate with the fewest votes is
thrown out and the second choices on those ballots are counted. This
process continues until one candidate has received a winning portion of
the votes. Although not all elections in North Carolina require a
majority vote to declare a winner, if desired, instant runoff can assure
a majority winner in any election.
"In the 2000 presidential election,
instant-runoff voting would have prevented Ralph Nader 'spoiling' for
George W. Bush, the candidate with whom he had the least in
common," said Everett. "In 2004 North Carolina spent over $2.5
million on a runoff for one race in one primary. IRV would not only
ensure that would never happen, it's also a much more democratic way to
run elections, because it allows the votes to be much more
representative of what voters want. "
The IRV bill passed by the House last week would
allow a certain number of counties to give the procedure a try:
"The counties will be volunteering," said Bob Hall of
Democracy North Carolina, "and then the state Board of Elections
would have to approve the counties' plans and would oversee the whole
thing. Up to 10 counties could be approved by the Board of Elections to
participate in what is essentially a pilot program."
The bill now goes to the state Senate for
consideration. Democracy North Carolina is holding a Voter-Owned
Elections Lobby Day on June 7 so members can encourage their state
legislators to support this and other important voter reforms, including
more public financing of elections, tighter regulations on lobbyists and
same-day voter registration.
For more details about voter-supported election
reform in North Carolina, visit <http://www.ncvce.org>.
The North Carolina Green Party website is located at
<http://www.ncgreenparty.org>.
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