Alternative Vote: Big Advances for IRV in New York City, UK, More
Instant runoff voting, the "alternative vote", continues its remarkable progress. A charter commission in New York City has recommended in its preliminary report a November ballot measure on adoption of instant runoff voting, with backing from a range of New York leaders. A charter commission in Portland, the biggest city in Maine, has made its final recommendation for a November ballot measure to amend its charter to elect its mayor directly with IRV.
Internationally, the big news is in the United Kingdom, where the government has committed to moving legislation through parliament to hold a national referendum on May 5, 2011 to adopt IRV for elections to the House of Commons. The influential Financial Times has come out for the change, with the New York Times also indicating support. The leading candidates to head the opposition Labour Party also back IRV; they themselves are contesting an IRV election for Labour Party leader.
Learn more:
New York City: Wall Street Journal on charter commission interest; see the actual report here
Portland, Maine: News story on charter commission and commentary
United Kingdom referendum: Editorials in Financial Times, New York Times and on Labor leadership support.
UK IRV elections for Labour Party leader and House of Commons leadership
Rob Richie and Alec Slatky oped on IRV in Politico
FairVote Twitter with ongoing news