On April 10, 2006, the city council of Takoma Park, Maryland voted unanimously for a second and final time to change the city council charter to ensure all future city elections are held with instant runoff voting. The vote followed a resounding 84%--16% win in a November 2005 advisory measure. IRV will be used in November 2007 elections for mayor and city council, although could be used earlier to fill any vacanies. Ballots will be counted by hand, as the city changed to paper ballots in 2005 to save money.

Takoma becomes the fifth city having adopted IRV in the modern era. San Francisco (CA) and Burlington (VT) have run successful IRV elections. Voters in Ferndale (MI) and Berkeley (CA) supported IRV by overwhelming margins, and IRV will be used once it can be implemented. Several other jurisdictions have changed their charters to allow IRV to be implemented by statute.

[ FairVote's Takoma Park IRV page ]
[ IRVictory Fund ]
[ More on Burlington elections]
[ More on San Francisco elections ]