Many Americans had a chance to vote in state and local elections on November 8. FairVote was particularly focused on the first-ever use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in Maine's biggest city of Portland, along with RCV elections in St. Paul (MN), San Francisco (CA), Cambridge (MA), Telluride (CO) and Takoma Park (MD). The news from these elections was extremely promising for reform advocates. Voters and election officials handled the system well, and more than two candidates were able to run without talk of "spoilers."

We remain concerned about voter turnout decline in many elections and low numbers of contested races. We see winner-take-all rules as increasingly locking voters into one-party, no-contest boxes. Fair voting methods of proportional voting are necessary to  provide meaningful choices and fair representation in our legislative elections.

Here are links:

• Portland: TV (Ranked Choice Voting a Success) & Press-Herald:(Ranked Choice Voting a Winner)
• FairVote's Portland Spotlight & Dorothy Does Democracy
• San Francisco: SFBetterElections.com & SF Voters Effectively Used Ranked Choice Voting  
• Visuals for 2011 RCV Election Results: Round-by-Round Breakdown
• FairVote Minnesota on St. Paul: Ranked Choice Voting a Winner
• News Coverage of Telluride Mayoral Race: RCV works
• Elise Helgesen on Choice Voting Elections in Cambridge  
• Christina Grier on Voter Turnout in 2011  
• Rob Richie and Jamie Raskin on Fair Voting Plan for Maryland  
• Virginia State Legislative Elections: Update to Dubious Democracy