Two Cheers For Instant Runoff Voting

Instant runoff voting (IRV) is a system that allows voters to rank their choices in a multicandidate election. Thus, the second-choice voters of less successful candidates are redistributed to the front-runners. The purpose of this system is to prevent candidates opposed by a majority of voters from winning. For example, if candidates A and B each have 40 percent of the vote and candidate C has 20 percent, the front-runner supported by the majority of C\u27s supporters is the true majority choice and will win under IRV. The purpose of this article is to critically examine the arguments for and against IRV