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Ranked Choice Voting - the best term for IRV?

Tom Monto

Conversely, the problem might be to say ranked choice voting. voters may not know what is goal of RCV - why use ranked votes?


both multi-winner STV and single-winner IRV (RCV) uses ranked voting.

(those systems use rankings on ballots as contingency votes/back-up preferences.

(approval voting even uses ranked ballots but the system is not the same and the way rankings are used is not the same.)


Runoff election systems (as the term is normally used) can be either Two-Round System or "Exhaustive ballot" system (this term is used in wikipedia for syem where numerous separate rounds of voting may be required).


Instant-runoff voting is good term if it is taken to mean that runoffs are conducted based on the initial ranked votes and although not "instant", is quicker than having to gather all voters over again to vote once again.

a good term but not totally clear.


Alternative Voting is old term for what we (some) now call IRV.


perhaps the term "majority-winner ranked votes election system" is more clear.


if election system is good enough, you don't actually need primaries of any kind.

STV was long promoted as way to avoid primaries.


with transferable votes, adverse result from vote splitting is usually avoided.


same for list PR.


perhaps same for IRV.


but IRV cannot produce scientifically-deduced proportional representation -

we need a multiple-winner contest to have proper PR.


so whether you call IRV by the name "ranked choice voting" or the name "majority-winner ranked votes election system" or "runoff voting" is not big issue.


Under any name, it is not any better at fairness or proportional rep. than FPTP.


And to sell it as something great would be merely conning voters.

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History | Tom Monto Montopedia is a blog about the history, present, and future of Edmonton, Alberta. Run by Tom Monto, Edmonton historian. Fruits of my research, not complete enough to be included in a book, and other works.

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