San Franciscans have approved the use of instant runoff voting to decide their next County Supervisor. This is an idea that, in spite of its surprisingly slow propagation since the 2000 Presidential election debacle, is still bound get more traction in the years ahead. In instant runoff voting, rather than selecting just one candidate on a ballot voters rank candidates as first choice, second choice and so on. Essentially, it’s a winner-take-all system that ensures that a winning candidate will receive a majority of votes rather than a simple plurality. Come to think of it, perhaps the fact that its concept is not easily summed up in less than a few paragraphs accounts for its slow mindshare growth.
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