Jim Bennett, a former Secretary of State of Alabama, has this column in the Birmingham News. The last few paragraphs seem to endorse Instant Runoff Voting, at least in primaries, so that primary run-offs can be abolished. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Thanks for posting this, Richard — it is interesting news!
Mr. Bennett only talks about looking at second choices, but he does mention the instant runoff method by name — so I expect he’d be willing to consider allowing for the possibility of more rounds of instant runoff. (He also mentions the option of lowering the winning threshold in primaries to 40%, presumably to reduce the likelihood of needing a runoff.)
But another noteworthy paragraph for me was this: “And here is the kicker. Why is the state paying for party primaries in the first place? Other than wanting the state to pick up the tab, this is really a party function. They could do it themselves or come up with some other selection method. Republicans used to have a convention to select its nominees. A minor party can do that in someone’s living room or through caucuses.”
Alabama should use the Open Primary as is used in Louisiana.
Most legislative and congressional primary runoffs occur when there is an open seat and a dominant party in the district. When there are segregated partisan primaries many voters are effectively excluded from participating from the choice of their representatives.