On June 26, the Illinois legislature sent SB 439 to the Governor. It lets municipalities use Instant-Runoff Voting for foreign absentee ballots. The Governor has two months to sign or veto it.
On June 26, the Illinois legislature sent SB 439 to the Governor. It lets municipalities use Instant-Runoff Voting for foreign absentee ballots. The Governor has two months to sign or veto it.
It is not really an IRV ballot, but a contingent runoff ballot. So instead of sending someone an absentee ballot for a primary election, and then sending them a general election ballot a few weeks later, they can indicate their preference among the potential candidates in the general election.
It applies to military and foreign absentee ballots. This does not include persons residing overseas, who may only vote in federal elections.
It is not clear how widely applicable it is. Looking at the 2007 results for Cook and DuPage counties, there were a handful of consolidated primary races and dozens of consolidated general election races. It appears that in most cases, either the primary is not needed because of the relatively few number of candidates filing, or the primary has been dispensed with altogether.
The proposal won 91% support in a Springfield (IL) referendum in 2007 — glad the legislature is taking action to let it move into practice. For more on the concept, see http://www.includeeveryvote.org