A city of nearly four million people, Los Angeles has taken giant strides toward putting instant runoff voting for city elections on the November 2008 ballot. The L.A. Chamber of Commerce and former Republican mayor Richard Riordan recently endorsed instant runoff voting, with the Chamber's press release saying: "IRV will save money for candidates, who can now spend all their resources on a single race focused on the merits of their platforms, rather than bashing opponents. This new campaign dynamic will bring new candidates and their issues into the local debate, leading to more competitive races for important local government posts."As detailed in the IRV in L.A. website run by the New America Foundation, other backers include the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, National Latino Congreso and numerous elected leaders. UCLA uses IRV for its student government elections.
[IRVinLA.org]
[Statement by L.A. Chamber of Commerce]
[New America Foundation's Political Reform Program]
[Californians for Electoral Reform]
[Another successful IRV election at UCLA]
In May of 2008, the League of Women Voters of Vermont updated its position on redistricting and voting methods to include support for proportional voting methods: "The League of
Women Voters of Vermont supports the principle of legislative districts
using alternative voting methods, such as proportional representation in
multi-seat districts, as a way of achieving both competitive elections and
fair representation of both majorities and minorities within a
district."
