On July 26, a U.S. District Court in Alabama issued an order in USA v State of Alabama, middle district, 2:12cv-179, in which all sides to the lawsuit agree that Alabama will make partial use of ranked-choice ballots in the upcoming special congressional election. Overseas absentee voters will receive both a ranked-choice primary ballot and a ranked-choice general election ballot. The order has no effect on voters who are not overseas.
Everyone involved is assuming that there will be a run-off primary, because of the large number of primary candidates who have already announced. Use of ranked-choice voting is the only practical way to keep to the state’s schedule for this special election intact, because of the federal law that requires that ballots be sent to overseas absentee voters at least 45 days before the primary or election. There also seems to be an assumption that there is a reasonable chance that minor party and/or independent candidates will qualify for the general election. That is why the order includes provision for ranked-choice voting (for overseas voters) for the general election as well. Here is a link to the court order. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
When Louisiana regressed to use of party primaries for Congress they had the possibility of a party primary, a second primary (runoff), and a general election, run in September to November.
Louisiana cancels elections that have no or one candidates, and does not permit write-in votes. So there were complex charts specifying the ballots to be sent overseas based on the party registration and district.
If a party had 3 or more candidates, overseas voters of that party would get a primary ballot, a 2nd primary ballot (RCV), and a general election ballot (unless all candidates were from a single party).
If a party had 2 candidates, overseas voters of that party would get a primary ballot and a general election ballot (unless all candidates were from a single party).
If a party had 1 candidate, overseas voters of that party would get a general election ballot (unless all candidates were from a single party).
If a party had no candidates, overseas voters of that party would get a general election ballot (unless all candidates were from a single party).
Nonpartisan/independent voters would get a general election ballot (unless all candidates were from a single party).
Since the Open Primary has been restored for congressional elections, all overseas voters now get the congressional primary ballot for the November election, along with a general election ballot for December if there are two or more candidates.
California could move to a September or October primary with this system.
In addition, it could switch to all-mail RCV special elections. Since there is only one race on special election ballots, they are easy to hand count, and it would be feasible to use simple paper ballots in which voters simply mark numerals next to each candidate’s name, avoiding the barbaric system used in San Francisco.
Ranked voting would be a good choice for many of these local elections taking place around the country for city council races and such. No need for primaries and I’ll still have the choice to pick the best candidate, and an alternate and so on.