Australia: Electoral commission grapples with counting votes in new Senate system | Brisbane Times

The Australian Electoral Commission has still not “finalised” its plan for counting more than 12 million Senate ballots, with a little more than three weeks to polling day. The commission looks likely to turn to scanning machines for the first time to help it cope with a counting task massively expanded by the government’s changes to upper house voting. But the AEC insists it will have all the votes and preferences finalised by the mandated August 8 deadline. The commission is confronted with the task of entering up to 12 million ballots onto its system, up from about 500,000 under the old voting rules, and one electoral expert says it is unsurprising the AEC is battling to cope after the changes were rushed through by the government.

Rhode Island: Filippi calls for move to instant runoff elections in Rhode Island | The Westerly Sun

State Rep. Blake Filippi has introduced legislation that would give voters an opportunity in the next election to amend the Rhode Island constitution to replace the current plurality vote with instant runoff elections. A plurality is winning with the greatest number of votes, even if the candidate does not win more than 50 percent of the vote. Filippi cited examples of Gov. Gina Raimondo, who was elected with 40.8 percent of the vote, and former Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who received 36.1 percent. “The fact that we have a prior governor with 36 percent of the vote and our current governor has approximately 40 percent of the vote — I think it’s obvious there’s a problem,” said Filippi, I-Westerly. “Our elected officials can serve without the strong mandate needed to effectively govern and I think that people feel their will isn’t being represented when you have someone with just a mere plurality serving.”

Malta: New voting technology for MEP, council elections – Ballot papers to be scanned, not counted | Times of Malta

The days of “banging on the perspex” in the election counting hall could soon be a thing of the past under a plan to introduce vote counting software that will slash the wait for the result from days to hours. The technology is expected to be tested in the 2019 MEP and local council elections before it comes into use for all national polls. “Our voting system has needed a major overhaul for many years,” Chief Electoral Commissioner Joe Church told The Sunday Times of Malta. “There appears to be consensus from both major parties on the way forward. This will ultimately make our elections more efficient,” he added.

Ireland: Pencils and rankings: It’s time for an Irish-style election | Associated Press

Ireland is voting for a new government Friday, but the country might not know the full official results until Monday — and the government won’t take shape until next month, if one can even be formed. The AP explains some of the peculiarities of Ireland’s democracy and its slow dance with election results. In Ireland’s system of proportional representation, voters get one ballot but can vote for as many listed candidates as they like in order of preference. You literally can vote for every single politician with a hand-written No. 1, 2, 3 and so on. The multi-numbered ballots mean they must be counted in multiple rounds. At first the total number of votes cast in a district is calculated. This is divided by the number of seats in that district, which produces a quota, which is the target needed to win a seat. If the winning candidate in the first count gets more votes than the quota, their surplus votes are redistributed to lower-ranking candidates, starting with the No. 2s registered on the winning candidate’s ballot. And if there is no winner in a round, they eliminate a losing candidate at the bottom of the list and the No. 2s on those ballots are transferred to other candidates.

Maine: Senate president seeks opinion on whether ranked-choice voting would be constitutional | Portland Press Herald

Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau said Thursday that he’s requesting a legal opinion from the state Attorney General’s Office about whether a citizen-initiated referendum proposal to establish a ranked-choice voting system in Maine violates the state constitution. “It’s the prudent thing to do,” Thibodeau said. “All I know is that we can’t pass legislation in this building without first finding out if it violates the Maine Constitution. This is simply to determine if the Legislature has any role in preventing a citizen referendum that potentially violates the constitution from appearing before voters.” Thibodeau’s move follows a Portland Press Herald report in which a top state election official reiterated her concerns that ranked-choice voting is at odds with a provision in the Maine Constitution that says winners of gubernatorial and State House races are determined by a plurality of votes cast. Ranked-choice voting would swap the traditional plurality system with one that determines a winner after he or she secures a majority of votes cast.

Maine: How an 1880 Maine insurrection could sink ranked-choice voting | Bangor Daily News

Leave it to Civil War Gen. Joshua Chamberlain to affect Maine politics 136 years after defusing an armed Augusta standoff that could have led to civil war. Law changes made after that 1880 standoff over who would be Maine’s next governor may sink an effort to change the way the state votes in 2016. It’s a complicating factor for advocates of ranked-choice voting, who submitted enough signatures last year to place on the November 2016 ballot a question that would implement the new voting system. Ranked-choice voting would allow voters to rank candidates for governor, the Legislature and members of Congress in order of preference in multi-candidate races, creating an “instant runoff” when no single candidate receives more than 50 percent of the total vote and counting second- and third-place votes if necessary.

Maine: Election official, lawmakers question legality of ranked-choice voting proposal | The Portland Press Herald

A ballot question that would swap Maine’s traditional election system for one in which seats in Congress and the State House are filled by ranked-choice voting could violate the Maine Constitution, according to a top state election official. Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn, the longtime head of the elections office, said the issue involves whether Maine’s governor and legislators can be chosen by majority of votes, rather than a plurality, as the Constitution provides. She said she’s concerned that if voters approve the ranked-choice system in November, candidates elected under the system could be challenged in court. Flynn said her office has discussed the issue with the Maine Attorney General’s Office, and an attorney there who advises the agency “is in agreement with our concerns about constitutionality.”

Maine: Election officials certify ranked-choice voting proposal for 2016 ballot | The Portland Press Herald

A citizen-initiated ballot question that could change how Mainers elect their governors, members of congress and state lawmakers inched forward on Wednesday. The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting said that the Maine Secretary of State has certified the campaign’s signatures to appear on the 2016 ballot. If successful, the proposal would swap Maine’s current election system for one in which the winning candidates for Congress and state offices are selected by ranked-choice, or instant run-off, voting. Now that the petitions have been certified, the Legislature will have the opportunity to ratify the proposal when it reconvenes next year. However, lawmakers have traditionally rejected ranked-choice proposals and will likely let voters decide the issue at the ballot box next November.

Maine: Ranked-choice voting question certified for November 2016 ballot | Bangor Daily News

Maine’s secretary of state has authenticated signatures on a citizen initiative to implement ranked-choice voting in Maine, which means voters will decide whether to implement the system at the polls in November 2016. More than 70,000 signatures in support of the initiative from registered Maine voters, which have been collected over the past year, were submitted in October. Under the proposal from Ranked Choice Voting Maine, the state would become the first in the nation to fully use a ranked-choice ballot system for its elections.

Minnesota: Duluth voters reject ranked-choice voting | Duluth News Tribune

In what turned out to be one of the most hotly debated issues on this year’s ballot, Duluthians sent a strong message Tuesday in favor of their current voting system.Voters resoundingly rejected a citywide referendum that called for a shift to a ranked-choice voting system. The city of Duluth’s tally showed 15,564 “no” votes to 5,271 “yes” votes. The ballot initiative, which called for a change in the way Duluth has voted for more than a century, sharply divided local leaders and led to aggressive campaigning by supporters and detractors alike.

Minnesota: Does your vote count? Duluth mulls ranked-choice elections | Minnesota Public Radio

Duluth citizens go to the polls on Nov. 3 to elect city council members and a new mayor. But the hottest race isn’t over a political office. It’s over how future city elections should take place. Duluth voters will decide whether to follow in the footsteps of Minneapolis and St. Paul and adopt ranked-choice voting. Ranked-choice voting lets citizens choose up to three candidates and rank them first, second and third among all the candidates in an election.

California: Ranked-choice voting linked to lower voter turnout | San Francisco State News

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, San Francisco voters will return to the polls and cast their votes using the ranked-choice voting (RCV) system, a relatively new method that allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, thus eliminating the need for a runoff. But as Election Day draws near, a recent study reveals that RCV may actually make voting more difficult. The research from San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Political Science Jason McDaniel, recently published in Journal of Urban Affairs, analyzed racial group voter turnout rates in five San Francisco mayoral elections from 1995 to 2011. The 2007 and 2011 elections used RCV ballots; the 1995-2003 elections used the traditional two-round, primary runoff system. The analysis revealed a significant relationship between RCV and decreased turnout among black and white voters, younger voters and voters who lacked a high school education. RCV did not have a significant impact on more experienced voters, who had the highest levels of education and interest in the political process.

Maine: Ranked Choice Voting Advocates Deliver Signatures | Maine Public Broadcasting

Supporters of instant-runoff voting, sometimes called ranked-choice voting, have submitted nearly 70,000 signatures to initiate legislation in Maine that would require the process in electing members of Congress, the Legislature and the governor’s office. Let’s say you are choosing between six candidates for governor in a primary election. Under the proposal, you, the voter, could rank your favorites in order, without being required to rank every candidate. The candidate with the lowest vote total would have to drop out, and all of their votes would be redistributed. Then, if none of candidates has a clear majority of the votes, the candidate with the fifth largest total is dropped from the count, and his or her voters’ 2nd choice is added to the remaining candidates’ tabulations. Sound complicated? Supporters say it isn’t, really.

Maine: Ranked-choice voting could be headed for ballot | The Portland Press Herald

Maine could become the first state to swap its traditional election system for one in which the winning candidates for Congress and state offices are selected by ranked-choice voting. On Monday, the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, a state organization backed by national advocates, will submit signed petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office seeking to put the proposal on the November 2016 ballot. If the petition signatures are certified, the measure would appear alongside several other questions on legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage and a Maine Republican Party-led initiative to overhaul the state’s welfare system and reduce the income tax. In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates appearing on a ballot in order of preference, though they still have the option of picking one candidate. The system won’t affect a two-way race, but it could have a significant impact in multi-candidate contests.

Maine: Group wants voters to change Maine’s voting system in 2016 | Sun Journal

A group that hopes to ask voters statewide to change the way Maine votes in 2016 will begin its campaign in earnest later this month. Ranked Choice Voting Maine wants Maine to become the first state in the U.S. to fully use a ranked-choice ballot system for its elections and has gathered the more than 61,123 signatures from registered voters needed to add a ballot question to next November’s election. Former state Sen. Dick Woodbury, a Yarmouth independent and a spokesman for the group, said they expect to turn their signatures into Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap on Oct. 19. Woodbury says the signature-gathering drive started in October 2014 and has collected more than 70,000 signatures. He said the group collected more than 40,000 signatures on Election Day 2014.

Minnesota: Group Launches Opposition Campaign to Ranked Choice Voting Referendum | WDIO

Without much organized opposition, supporters have been campaigning to adopt ranked choice voting in Duluth, but on Sunday, a citizen group announced it has launched a formal effort to oppose the ballot measure. Five city councilors announced last week that they opposed ranked choice voting and all are now members of a citizen group against a switch to ranked choice for mayoral and some city council seats. The “Keep Voting Simple — Vote No RCV Campaign” gathered on the Duluth City Hall steps to give remarks and field questions from reporters. Among those speakers, Mayor Don Ness who said, the current voting system is working for the city.

Maine: Ranked choice voting likely to appear on 2016 fall ballot | Boothbay Register

The year 2016 may be the last time Maine’s federal and state candidates can win with less than half of the popular vote. A non-partisan grassroots committee has amassed over 75,000 signatures to put ranked choice voting on next year’s referendum ballot. Ranked choice voting is a method of ensuring the winner receives a majority of the votes. Instead of voting only for their preferred candidate, voters rank them in order of preference. If the leading candidate receives less than a majority, the candidate who received the fewest votes has his or her votes redistributed to the remaining candidates. A winner is declared after a candidate receives more than half of the votes. Maine would be the first to adopt the measure on a statewide basis. Ranked Choice Voting Maine began working on placing the measure on the ballot in 2014.

Minnesota: Ranked Choice Voting to Appear on November Ballot | KQDS

An organization, called Fair Vote Minnesota, has petitioned throughout Duluth and received more than 1,600 signatures, which was the magic number, and now puts the question of ranked choice voting on the ballot this November. Councilor Joel Sipress believes the term ‘ranked choice voting’ encompasses two different voting systems. The first is called ‘instant runoff voting’ and is the method used in races electing one person, like the Mayor or district councilors. The second, is called ‘single transferable voting,’ a system designed for races electing multiple people at the same time, like the at–large city councilors.

Kentucky: What a Kentucky Presidential Caucus Would Mean For Overseas Voters | WKU

A voting rights advocate says a potential Republican Party presidential caucus in Kentucky next year would need to include specific rules to protect overseas voters’ rights. This month, state GOP leaders gave preliminary approval to conducting a presidential caucus in 2016 instead of the usual primary. The change was requested by Sen. Rand Paul—a likely 2016 presidential candidate—to get around a state law banning candidates from appearing twice on a ballot.

Maine: Ranked-choice voting advocates aiming for 2016 Maine ballot | Associated Press

A group that wants to implement ranked-choice voting in Maine elections plans to wait until 2016 to put its proposal before voters. The Committee for Ranked-Choice Voting had been considering filing signatures to force a referendum this November, but it now wants more time to educate voters on the proposal’s merits, said former independent Sen. Richard Woodbury, who is helping to lead the effort. Under the group’s proposal — which would apply to races for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, governor and state Legislature — voters would rank candidates by order of preference. The first-choice votes would be counted, but if no one receives a majority, then the person who received the fewest is eliminated.

Maine: Ranked choice voting proponents within 15,000 signatures of forcing statewide referendum | Bangor Daily News

The organizers of an effort to bring ranked choice voting to Maine say they have pulled within striking distance of their goal to force a statewide referendum on the issue with only a month left until the deadline to put the question on the 2015 ballot. Former independent Sen. Richard Woodbury, principal officer for the Committee for Ranked-Choice Voting, said Wednesday his group has collected more than 45,000 signatures and aims to handily eclipse 61,000 signatures by Jan. 7. The deadline for the group to submit signatures to municipalities for certification is Jan. 12. In ranked choice voting, also known as instant runoff voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference, in essence voting for more than one candidate. If none of the candidates receive a majority of the initial vote total — at least 50 percent — the lowest performing candidate is eliminated. The ballots with that candidate listed as a first preference are recounted with the second-choice votes tallied and third choice, if necessary, until one candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Canada: Ranked ballot option coming to Ontario municipalities | Yahoo News Canada

It won’t help decide the heated race in the upcoming Toronto election — but it could in 2018. The Ontario Liberals are making good on a campaign promise to give municipalities some new tools to supposedly enhance local democracy. A spokesperson for Municipal Affairs Minister Ted McMeekin confirms that the Kathleen Wynne government will amend current legislation to give city governments the option of ranked ballots in future elections. “As the Premier indicated in our ministry’s mandate letter, in the course of reviewing the Municipal Elections Act, we will provide municipalities with the option of using ranked ballots in future elections as an alternative to the first-past-the-post system, starting in 2018,” Mark Cripps told Yahoo Canada News. “This work will get underway following the elections on October 27.”

Canada: Ranked ballot voting moves closer to reality in Toronto | CTV

A new initiative looking to adopt a ranked ballot system to Toronto’s electoral system just got one step closer to approval at Queen’s Park on Thursday. Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter tabled a private member’s bill that would allow Toronto to adopt a ranked voting system – where voters rank candidates in order of preference – instead of the current “first-past-the post” system. Bill 166 passed second reading on Thursday afternoon and will now be sent to the legislature’s social policy committee for further study.

Canada: Private member’s bills would open door to ranked ballot voting in Toronto | CTV

Provincial lawmakers are poised to consider two private member’s bills that could bring a landmark change to the way Torontonians elect their mayor and councillors. The duelling bills tabled by Liberal MPP Mitzie Hunter and NDP MPP Jonah Schein, who both represent Toronto ridings, would give the city the option of switching to a ranked choice ballot system, starting with the 2018 municipal election. If MPPs give their blessing to one of the bills, the change would not be automatic. The final say would rest with city council. The bills are not carbon copies of each other but they both have the same aim – to allow Toronto to replace its traditional electoral system, if it chooses, with ranked balloting. Hunter, who represents Scarborough-Guildwood, is tabling her bill – the Toronto Ranked Ballot Elections Act – Wednesday afternoon at Queen’s Park. “We live in a diverse city and the way we elect our municipal representatives should reflect that,” Hunter told reporters at a news conference before she tabled the bill.

Editorials: The District of Columbia needs to tackle election reform | The Washington Post

The crowded field of candidates for D.C. mayor opens up the possibility that the winner of the upcoming Democratic primary will have less than a majority of votes. Perhaps as little as 30 percent of the total vote could spell victory. Obviously, that would not be ideal. More people voting against the winner than for the winner seems a strange way for democracy to operate. While it is too late to change the rules for this year’s elections, the District’s political leaders need to look ahead to future contests and put in place reforms that require a majority vote.

Minnesota: Ranked-choice voting means lots of candidates but not lots of confusion | Pioneer Press

Tuesday’s polls in St. Paul and Minneapolis drew both fans and skeptics of ranked-choice voting — but relatively little confusion despite long candidate slates. The votes, though, did not produce clear winners Tuesday evening in the St. Paul Ward 1 city council race, the Minneapolis mayor race and in three of 13 city council wards in that city. Under the ranked-choice system, only candidates who garner more than 50 percent of first-choice votes emerge as clear-cut victors. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman handily won re-election. For both cities, it was the second go-around with the system, in which voters rank candidates rather than casting a ballot just for their top choices. St. Paul voters elected city council candidates with ranked ballots in 2011. Minneapolis used the system in the 2009 re-election of Mayor R.T. Rybak. At some polling sites, election officials said practice — along with typically light off-year election turnout — made for a smooth process. “We explain ranked choice to those that don’t get it,” said Julia New-Landrum, an election judge in St. Paul’s Ward 1. “Just about 90 percent of people know what it is.”

Minnesota: With ranked-choice voting, Minneapolis mayoral race becomes Battle to Be Nice | MinnPost

Minneapolis’ crowded mayoral race has turned into the Battle to Be Nice, and just about everybody credits the use of ranked-choice voting for the absence of anything resembling negative campaigning. The reason: If you call your opponent a dummy, there is a very good chance the dummy’s supporters will scratch you off their list as a possible second or third choice. And the key to winning appears certain to depend on those second and third choices. “We don’t have the negative ads to say, ‘This person is horrible, so vote for my guy,’ ” said Lynne Bolton, campaign manager for Jackie Cherryhomes. “We’re used to the system where you have two choices, and one is bad and the other is good.”

Minnesota: Minneapolis confronts chaotic race for mayor | Associated Press

The next mayor of Minneapolis might be one of two City Council members. It could be one of two former City Council presidents, or a former county commissioner. Or maybe it will be Captain Jack Sparrow. Or the hairy dude who comes striding out of a lake in an online campaign video, points at the camera and promises to stop visiting strip clubs if he’s elected. It’s a weird and wide-open race for mayor this year in Minnesota’s largest city. With no incumbent on the ballot, an exceptionally low candidate filing fee of $20, and the city’s continuing experiment with a novel voting system, the November general election has a whopping 35 contenders on the ballot. “It’s like mayor soup,” said Katherine Milton, a Minneapolis voter and arts consultant who is one of many trying to figure out the city’s “ranked choice” voting system. “It’s like putting together a 5,000-piece puzzle.” The cluttered contest comes at an important moment for this city of 393,000, as its population has begun to shoot up after decades of decline. Popular outgoing Mayor R.T. Rybak made himself a high-profile booster-in-chief by luring young professionals and empty nesters with the city’s dozens of parks and lakes, many miles of bike trails, thriving restaurant and nightlife scene, diverse cultural amenities, pro sports venues and legal gay marriage.

Editorials: Raise filing fee to weed out recreational Minneapolis candidates | Star Tribune

In mayoral contests, as in many human endeavors, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. That’s the problem vexing Minneapolis voters this fall. Political choice is good, but settling on first, second and third choices from a list of 35 candidates for mayor is daunting for even the most politically attuned voter. And the mayoral race is only the beginning. Voters also must study and sort 10 candidates for three at-large seats on the Parks and Recreation Board, four for two seats on the Board of Estimate and Taxation, and in most wards, between three and six contenders for City Council. Many factors contributed to this year’s unprecedented wave of candidacies. It’s the first Minneapolis election in 20 years without an incumbent mayor on the ballot. The dominant DFL Party is divided in some wards and did not endorse a candidate for mayor, prolonging some candidacies past what would have been their usual expiration point. The willingness of so many nominal DFLers to run for the same office might fairly be seen as a reflection of the latter-day DFL’s undisciplined condition.