Reply #17: NC: Opinion mixed on Cary's instant-runoff trial

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

IRV didn't provide a majority winner in the Cary NC experiment, questions of candidate collusion came up, and experienced election officials miscounted 3,000 votes.

Opinion mixed on Cary's instant-runoff trial

The success of the instant-runoff voting experiment in Cary depends on who’s talking.
About 20 people spoke at a forum about the pilot program sponsored by the Wake County Board of Elections on Jan. 17 in Cary Town Council chambers.

Cary voters were the first in the state to test the approach, which was approved by the N.C. General Assembly in 2006. “We view instant-runoff voting as a way to increase participation,” said Cary resident Diane Haskell, president of the League of Women Voters of Wake County.

Others were not so sure.
Knightdale resident Janice Sears praised the board for its “state-of-the-art” approach to its work but also had reservations about the accuracy and openness of the count.
“And instant-runoff voting was to blame,” Sears said. “If the best board of elections in North Carolina had this much trouble counting 3,000 votes, this is too dangerous to try statewide.”

Maxwell recounted her experience with the approach as a candidate. She said having to explain a novel voting process was a distraction from discussing the issues with voters.
She also recalled “very uncomfortable” requests from both Frantz and Roseland to include in her campaign literature that she wanted voters to mark that candidate as second on their ballots.
Dennis Berwyn of Raleigh, who worked on Maxwell’s campaign, said she declined both requests.
Maxwell’s experience was a prime example of how instant-runoff voting can lead to “candidate collusion,” Berwyn said. “I don’t recall the conversation going like that,” Frantz said. “I don’t recall asking her to put anything on her campaign literature.”

... more at http://www.carynews.com/news/story/8057.html