Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Minnesota's Democratic Party Affiliate Adopts IRV

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Part (DFL) has adopted Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), a method of ranking your first, second and third choices for candidate, rather than using a winner-take-all system.

Whether from increased pressure by third parties or just plain fair play, several state parties have pushed for IRV. Minnesota is the third state Democratic party to adopt IRV. The Utah Republican Party sues IRV for state convention elections. IRV is also a core platform of the the Green Party of the United States and is practiced in municpal elections in various parts of the country. DNC leader Howard Dean has publicly encouraged IRV in his state for over a year and the hope is that encouragement will spread.

The Minnesota DFL joins a broad and rapidly growing coalition of organizations for IRV, including the League of Women Voters, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Star Tribune, TakeAction Minnesota, Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, Citizens for Election Integrity and The White House Project.

I support ranked choice voting, including instant-runoff voting, because it is the fairest and most efficient way of holding elections in a diverse society. Ranked-choice voting's fairness -- to the individual voter, to each group of voters, and to the candidates -- surpasses any other voting system. Instant-runoff voting ensures that our elected leaders get elected with support from a clear majority, not just a plurality, and it removes any incentive for strategic misrepresentation so that the voters can vote their true preferences. A ranked-choice system promotes diversity, and fully satisfies the right to an effective vote.
- DFL Chair Brian Melendez

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