IRV Oregon


* HOME (NEWS UPDATES)

* WHAT IS IRV?

* BENEFITS OF IRV

* IRV VOTE COUNTING SYSTEMS

* HISTORY OF IRV

* REPLIES TO ARGUMENTS

* MORE INFORMATION

* LOCAL CONTACTS:
       --IRV-Ashland
       --IRV-Lane County
       --IRV-Portland Area



 A Short History of IRV


  • In 1856 British electoral reformer Thomas Hare proposed that voters be given the opportunity to rank candidates in the order of each voter's preferences.
  • American professor W.R. Hare saw that Hare's concept could be adapted to single-member electoral districts such as are common in the United States.
  • Provision for preference voting included in the Oregon state constitution (1908).
  • Maryland used Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)  for primary elections in the early 20th century.
  • A form of IRV was adopted for elections to the Australian House of Representatives in 1918; it is still being used to elect Australian legislators.
  • A form of preference voting was adopted in Cambridge MA in 1941; it is still being used today.
  • IRV used briefly in Ann Arbor MI in the 1970s.
  • Current movement to institute IRV in U.S. elections began in Texas in 1997.
  • IRV measures passed in Santa Clara County CA in 1998, Vancouver WA in 1999, and San Leandro CA in 2000.
  • Referendum to institute IRV in elections for the city of Eugene OR voted down, September 2001.
  • In 2002, then state senator Barack Obama introduced a bill to bring IRV to Illinois primary elections.
  • IRV measures passed in Burlington VT and San Francisco CA in 2002; Ferndale MI and Berkeley CA in 2004; Takoma Park MD in 2005; David CA, Oakland CA, Minneapolis MN, Cary NC, Hendersonville NC, and Pierce County WA in 2006 (where it was repealed in 2009); Aspen CO and Sarasota FL in 2007; Memphis TN, Telluride CO, and Santa Fe NM in 2008; and St. Paul MN in 2009.
  • IRV adopted for use by overseas and/or military voters in Louisana in the 1990s, South Carolina in 2006, Springfield IL and Arkansas in 2007; IRV also adopted for use in some judicial vacancies in North Carolina in 2006.
  • IRV implemented in San Francisco CA in 2004; Burlington VT in 2006; Takoma Park MD, Cary NC, and Hendersonville NC in 2007; Pierce County WA in 2008 (IRV was repealed in Pierce County in 2009); and Aspen CO and Minneapolis MN in 2009.