Memphis voters will decide Nov. 6 whether or not they want to keep Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), also known as “ranked choice voting,” for Memphis’ 2019 elections.
IRV was previously approved in 2008 but has never been implemented. Otis Sanford, a University of Memphis journalism professor and political commentator, said runoff voting would only happen in some jurisdictions.
“In the city elections, you vote for mayor then you vote for city council members,” Sanford said. “Six of the city council members run in what they call ‘super districts.’ There’s no runoff there. The other seven run in individual districts, in those districts is where we have the runoffs. If nobody gets a 50-plus majority, then the top two candidates have to come back and run against each other at a later date, the later date meaning sometime in November.”
A decade ago, 71 percent of Memphis voters approved IRV, which amended the city’s laws to install term limits and eliminate two-round elections. Using an IRV method, voters would rank their candidates by preference, and if no single candidate wins an outright victory, then votes for candidates who won the least portion of the first vote would be redistributed to those voters’ second choice. The process would continue until a single candidate had a majority of the votes. In theory, this process eliminates candidates who may win more votes than their opponents but are unpopular with a majority of the electorate. Sanford said this was popular because of the elimination of second voting rounds.
“The voters approved it overwhelmingly,” Sanford said. “The idea was nobody wants to come back in November when people are getting ready for Christmas and Thanksgiving for these small district races that nobody shows up for, and it’s a lot of money spent and a lot of money wasted. So they asked the voters, ‘Can we rank the candidates, and then we’ll figure out who got the most total votes in first and second place, and whoever did that is the winner, and you don’t have to come back.’”
Sanford said he stands by the decision Memphians originally made.
“I’m satisfied with what the voters decided to do, so that means I support instant runoff voting because I support having as little financial cost as possible,” Sanford said.
The Save Instant Runoff Voting Memphis campaign encourages voters to vote “no” on the proposed referendums on the Memphis ballot, which would keep IRV in place. Voting “yes” on the second referendum is to repeal instant runoff voting and return to the original voting method. Carlos Ochoa, the media coordinator for the campaign, released a press release stating what will happen if IRV is repealed.
“If this Memphis City Council referendum passes next month, IRV will be repealed without citizens ever getting to use the reform they voted for, and council incumbents will have given themselves an extra term,” Ochoa said.
Save Instant Runoff Voting released a video Oct. 16 with Oscar-award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, who is a board member of RepresentUs, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization whose mission is “to pass tough anti-corruption laws in cities and states across America and end the legalized corruption that has come to define modern politics,” in which she encouraged Memphis voters to save IRV.
“Ten years ago, voters approved laws that give the people more power over elections,” Lawrence said in the video. “Hold politicians accountable and create term limits.”
Early voting for candidates and the referendums continue until Nov. 1, and election day is Nov. 6.
