Instant Runoff Voting

How Did Instant Runoff Voting Work In Hendersonville?

Instant Runoff Voting combined the Primary and General Election days into one election. Voters indicated their top choices for the two available seats, then in a second step, they ranked the remaining candidates

in order of preference.

Hendersonville City Council

IRV Ballot

Page 1 (DRAFT)

Hendersonville City Council

IRV Ballot

Page 2 (DRAFT)

How Instant Runoff

Voting Tabulation Works?

STEP ONE: First Round of Counting

Voters select their choices for the two City Council seats just as they have done in previous elections. They are allowed to vote for as many as two candidates for the two at-large positions. Following the election, the voters’ choices are tallied. If a candidate(s) gets enough votes to win, then they are declared the winner and no further counting is necessary.

How Instant Runoff

Voting Tabulation Works?

STEP TWO: Second Round of Counting

If one or both seats lack a candidate with enough votes to reach the majority threshold, the top candidates move into the instant runoff round. The winners are then determined by adding their first round totals to any alternate votes they receive in the second round. The candidate(s) with a majority of the votes after the two rounds of counting wins.

Challenges Faced In Conducting Hendersonville IRV

• Time constraint: City Council approved on Aug. 9^th, CBE approval on Aug. 15^th
• “Vote for Two” versus conventional IRV method of “Vote for One”
• DRE/IVO machines: 1) IRV most commonly conducted through paper ballots; 2) voters still learning machines
• Controversial Land Transfer Tax issue on countywide ballot – overshadowed council race

Challenges Faced In Conducting Hendersonville IRV (cont.)

• Required targeted/city only voter education
• Separate poll worker education
• Candidate education: specifically regarding tabulation – voting is easy; tabulation is the hard part
• Large elderly population
• Limited media outlets

What Was Involved?

• AUGUST 15th: IRV approved by CBE
• ON-GOING: Demonstration machine at CBE

• LABOR DAY WEEKEND: Apple Festival Demonstration with League of Women Voters
• MID-SEPTEMBER: Information posted on city website

• MID-SEPTEMBER: Organized & publicized upcoming demonstrations and educational sessions
• LATE SEPTEMBER: League of Women Voters planning meeting

What Was Involved? (cont.)

• OCTOBER: Informational flyer/sample ballot mailed in every city water/utility bill
• OCTOBER: Presentations to 3 residential associations, candidate forum, & afternoon at city hall lobby (TV coverage)

• MID-OCTOBER: Developed exit poll with NCSU professor
• LATE OCTOBER: Poll worker education, exit poll & volunteer training
• ELECTION DAY: Voter assistance, exit poll

What Helped Make Hendersonville IRV Successful?

• Strong City support
• Backed by candidates

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• Positive press: local newspaper editorial “a stroke of common sense”
• No other primaries or elections leading up to November
• Support from State Board

Pilot vs. Old Method

• One election vs. two
• Cost savings to City

• Candidates save time and money in campaigning
• Cost savings to County – prepare once; limited cost in education (only $442 material costs)

• One day of voting ensured higher voter turnout
• BONUS: demos were another opportunity to educate voters on iVotronic/DRE voting machines

Things To Keep In Mind

• Instant may not be INSTANT… provisionals, curbsides, etc., have to be considered and close races may delay the results

• Strength of candidate field can make a big difference
• Hendersonville had no instant runoff in the end – there were two clear winners in the first round and additional rounds of counting were not needed

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Exit Poll Findings

• Developed by Dr. Michael Cobb, Assistant Professor of Political Science, NC State University
• 9 out of 10 voters said the ballot was at least “somewhat easy to understand” and 3 out of 5 said it was “very easy” to understand

• 71% of voters said they preferred instant run-off voting
• Education efforts worked: 65% knew they would be asked to rank their preferences before coming to vote that day

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Henderson County Board of Elections

(828) 697-4970

Tom Wilson, Chairman

Betty Gash, Secretary

Joseph Abrell, Member

Beverly Cunningham, Director

Questions?