tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764Sun, 08 Sep 2024 02:29:26 +0000Educating and informing the public and government officials about the unintended consequences of and problems with Instant Runoff Voting and its impact on voters.http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)Blogger92125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-3660801760511561390Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:31:00 +00002011-04-17T16:31:50.239-04:00Wrong vote To The Editor: On April 7, City Council voted to continue instant runoff voting (IRV). Here is why that vote was wrong: IRV, unlike “one man, one vote” majority, is confusing, disenfranchises voter groups and lacks transparency because second- and third-round votes are not required to be counted. IRV has unintended consequences. In the N.C. Court of Appealshttp://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2011/04/hendersonville-instant-runoff-voting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-6714906030994383920Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:35:00 +00002011-01-09T20:35:35.051-05:00Editor's note. With instant runoff voting, the loser had 100,000 more votes than the winner. We just recently obtained the 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice vote -totals- for all candidates in NC's statewide IRV contest for NC Court of Appeals. IRV is unpredictable and basic rules of elections, like the person with the most votes wins - do not apply. The saving grace here is that the "winner" is qualifiedhttp://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2011/01/dopp-ncarolinas-instant-runoff-voting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-4371341143648369091Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:43:00 +00002011-01-08T12:43:41.228-05:00Thanks to instant runoff voting, the loser, Cressie Thigpen,  was ranked by more voters than the winner, Doug McCullough. This shows just how arbitrary IRV is. The buyers remorse is sinking in to those who pushed IRV, and those who warned against IRV are validated. How did this even get into law?  I know some lawmakers who don't remember voting for this particular http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-think-weve-seen-last-of-irv-voting-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-8600380271837511298Mon, 27 Dec 2010 03:29:00 +00002010-12-27T21:01:10.844-05:0048 days after the election, instant runoff voting produced a "winner" for the NC Court of Appeals, for the  "Wynn"seat. Thanks to IRV, an experimental tallying method was used, the election was almost a tie, a recount was called for, and we had a plurality result, not a majority win. After counting the IRV votes,  the highest vote getter lost his 100,000 vote lead, and the contest http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/ncarolinas-statewide-instant-runoff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-5817881153018632140Tue, 21 Dec 2010 04:13:00 +00002010-12-20T23:13:01.287-05:00Just in time for Christmas. 48 days after the election, instant runoff voting produces a "winner" for the NC Court of Appeals contest for Wynn's seat. Initially, Cressie Thigpen was leading by 100,000 votes but he only had 20% of the votes cast amongst the 13 candidates. Next, 2nd and 3rd choice votes for Thigpen & McCullough were added, erasing Thigpen's lead and putting McCullough about http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/after-48-days-instant-runoff-voting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-1396196632752857662Sun, 19 Dec 2010 21:41:00 +00002010-12-19T16:41:27.558-05:00Some say instant runoff voting did what it was supposed to do in the NC Court of Appeals Contest. For sure the IRV algorithm that sorts, allocates and eliminates votes is capricious in nature. IRV election is like a crap shoot. The top 2 candidates had 20% and 15% of first round votes. Thigpen led McCullough by 100,000 votes. After sorting, allocating, eliminating and reshuffling the IRV votes, http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/weak-defense-of-irv-instant-runoff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-184599060580063059Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:52:00 +00002010-12-14T12:58:16.353-05:00The Rocky Mount Telegram has withdrawn support for instant runoff voting. The RMT editorial dept promoted IRV over and over in spite of our warnings that Instant Runoff Voting isn't instant, and isn't the same thing as a runoff. We also warned that IRV is akin to a crap shoot. Well, we told you so.Instant runoff voting runs into issues, tooMonday, December 13, 20100 Rocky Mount TelegramThat was http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/north-carolina-instant-runoff-voting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-8179135978459350238Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:45:00 +00002010-12-14T12:51:58.589-05:00Here's op/ed in Charlotte Observer (one of NC's top newspapers) about Instant runoff voting. And how it wasn't everything it was cracked up to be.. My comments below the article.Not best way to boost confidence in electionsInstant Runoff Voting was alot faster than the counting.Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 Charlotte ObserverPerhaps the best that can be said of North Carolina's new electoral experiment http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/n-carolina-instant-runoff-voting-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-2026762592771817460Thu, 09 Dec 2010 12:50:00 +00002010-12-09T08:09:21.107-05:00The instant runoff voting contest for NC Court of Appeals is headed to a recount. Here we are, 38 days after the election, we get the results to the "instant runoff" and learn that we're going in for another round, due to lack of confidence in the tallying procedures. No surprise, since Larry Leake, the Chair of the NC State Board of Elections expressed concern about the tallying procedures http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/n-carolinas-instant-runoff-voting.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-7346420225358039923Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:56:00 +00002010-12-06T17:17:32.870-05:00Incumbent Judge Cressie Thigpen had a 100,000 vote lead in the statewide IRV contest for NC Court of Appeals. He's lost that lead thanks to IRV votes and now is 6,700 votes behind. Although this was non partisan contest, voter education fell to the political parties mostly, because IRV was touted as a cost saving measure.Monday Dec 6 2010 McCullough overtakes Thigpen in NC court raceAP News. http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/12/instant-runoff-voting-shocker-thigpen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-7083286515437085224Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:41:00 +00002010-11-21T15:50:34.302-05:00Ignorance is bliss if you read what website owner of Polkdemocrats writes. They don't know or care how the statewide IRV contest will be tallied, in fact they don't even know that we have top 2 IRV and NOT San Francisco style IRV. Polk Dem's webmaster says no one cares about this contest so its ok if voters are confused, spoil their ballots, or that results will be hinky. They aren't worried http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/11/for-polk-county-dem-website-ignorance.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-4192201382433492246Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:06:00 +00002010-11-03T12:07:28.387-04:00How did Oakland voters feel about instant runoff voting, also called ranked-choice voting? Here is a news update and also a video interview by an observer.Oakland spent $3.51 per voter in targeted areas to educate them on RCV. Many voters were still confused.Oakland voters flock to polls, struggle with ranked-choice votingBy Scott Johnson and Janis Mara. Oakland Tribune Posted: 11/02/2010OAKLAND http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/11/oakland-ca-voters-confused-by-instant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-6064914849949413900Sat, 02 Oct 2010 03:07:00 +00002010-11-01T23:25:16.135-04:00The article State : How the Instant Runoff for State Court of Appeals Will Work gives a misleading impression on the ease of continuing or expanding instant runoff voting. In fairness, the story IS based on an interview by Sara Burrows of the Carolina Journal with NC's top election official. Sara is only going by what she was told. When I read the article, I was stunned to see the claim http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-carolina-journal-wasnt-told-about.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-8431701561080054780Mon, 20 Sep 2010 05:09:00 +00002010-09-20T09:21:56.626-04:00We may have a voter guide, and we may have an Instant Runoff Voting task force, but sorry, no cigar! We still do not have IRV tallying procedures for touchscreen counties as of Sept 17, 2010. Additionally, in an August 31 letter, the voting vendor warns that our voting system cannot legally tally instant runoff voting, and the vendor will not accept responsibility for an IRV related election http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/09/vendor-letter-on-legal-issues-with-nc.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-2894643772848958943Sun, 19 Sep 2010 20:26:00 +00002010-10-01T22:54:35.304-04:00TWO SIMPLE RULES FOR IRV VOTING: 1. Voters must not rank the same candidate twice, and 2. Use strategy, make or follow endorsements, rank potential winners only, vote for at least 2!Read further to learn how to avoid having your vote be a total shot in the dark.1. MARKING YOUR BALLOTDo not rank the same candidate more than once!You can rank up to 3 DIFFERENT candidates out of the 13Ranking a http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/09/2-simple-rules-for-voters-in-instant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-3614640775323646923Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:08:00 +00002010-09-12T10:53:22.758-04:00Thanks to instant runoff voting, the November 2010 election for North Carolina Appeals has all the potential for a Florida style meltdown. See 13 candidates file for open NC appeals court job AP News August 31, 2010. Instant runoff voting, aka IRV will be used statewide to fill NC Appeals Judge Wynn's seat and our voting machines can't tally it. Other contests will use regular election methods. http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/09/nc-court-of-appeals-instant-runoff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-4922172913397887477Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:14:00 +00002010-09-03T09:29:53.672-04:00Triskaidekaphobia, North Carolina and a statewide instant runoff voting election. Funny how things work out when a few special interests get their way. Come November we'll all be acutely aware that elections have consequences and so does using IRV..Greensboro News and Record Editor Doug Clark writes about the impact of instant runoff voting on contest for Court of Appeals and the consequences. http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/09/lucky-13-nc-court-of-appeals-and.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-2234031020040588499Mon, 16 Aug 2010 04:06:00 +00002010-08-16T11:00:59.657-04:00NC's next election fiasco - filling NC Appeals Judge Wynn's seat. The bad news - IRV will be used statewide for this contest and our voting machines can't tally it. Other contests will use regular election methods. That makes it extra confusing. The Good news, the candidates/potential plaintiffs will be attorneys. North Carolina voting machines can't tally IRV. Wouldn't it be ironic if this http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/08/north-carolinas-next-election-fiasco.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-193697489762477874Thu, 12 Aug 2010 03:29:00 +00002010-08-16T00:05:52.266-04:00The bad news is that it looks like IRV will be used for a statewide contest combined with regular voting. IRV can't be tallied at polling places and machines can't count it so I have no idea how it will/can be counted. The good news is that the would be victims of this potential fiasco are attorneys/jurists and we may see some lively court action if things go wrong.Editorial: One in, two still tohttp://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/08/instant-runoff-voting-nc-court-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-4106535812943388557Tue, 22 Jun 2010 05:02:00 +00002010-06-22T01:12:41.076-04:00North Carolina has a statewide runoff election on June 22, 2010. Some groups are suggesting that North Carolina should resort to "instant runoffs" in order to avoid costly low turnout runoff elections. Don't be fooled, implementing IRV in North Carolina is not feasible and would have unintended consequences. IRV has never been used for a statewide election. North Carolina should not be the guineahttp://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/06/north-carolina-runoff-elections-instant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-4171112307786225267Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:49:00 +00002010-06-05T19:37:30.910-04:00Our criticism of instant runoff voting must be making an impact to warrant a vicious personal attack by Rob Richie, Director of the national pro IRV non profit FairVote. Criticize IRV and expect to have your character or motives attacked. Consider what happened to David Lee, head of the Chinese Voter Education Committee of San Francisco. What happened to him is documented in "Smearing for IRV"http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/06/instant-runoff-voting-guru-attacks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-3847126809873907028Sat, 29 May 2010 05:36:00 +00002010-05-29T02:06:09.602-04:00The Chairman of FairVote took a swipe at the verified voting movement in his defense of instant runoff voting in the comment section of an MYNC news article. See Second Primaries In NC Costing Millions RALEIGH, N.C. May. 18. The comments section soon became a free-for-all, with North Carolinians and a Burlington VT citizen taking on FV chair and others to debunk pro IRV talking points.Here is http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/05/pro-instant-runoff-voting-group-shows.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-5027487193171741801Sat, 03 Apr 2010 19:16:00 +00002010-04-03T15:33:10.714-04:00In 2009, legislation was passed to ensure that citizens had a say in whether their city participated in the Instant Runoff Voting Pilot Program. This was to remedy an oversight. Previously, city officials and county Board of Elections could volunteer for this voting method without seeking public input.In 2007, the cities of Cary and Hendersonville NC volunteered and participated in IRV, without http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/04/nc-law-public-hearing-required-before.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-9103859023580880168Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:05:00 +00002010-03-10T23:16:28.630-05:00Chuck Herrin, a certified white hat hacker and IT certification specialist warned North Carolina lawmakers about the inability of today's technology to handle instant runoff voting or even just plain elections. He compared IRV to the "flying car".Some background on why Chuck's testimony about instant runoff voting was necessary:During 2004 North Carolina was considering legislation for paper http://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/03/chuck-herrin-certified-white-hat-hacker.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8408651578140095764.post-7115479727300165667Sat, 06 Mar 2010 06:13:00 +00002010-03-06T01:37:29.568-05:00With instant runoff voting, the promise is that if there is no majority winner in the first round, that IRV will pick a "compromise" winner that more voters will (sorta) like. The idea behind IRV is that if there's no majority winner in the first round that more voters will be happy if a compromise winner is elected. Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? But the reality is much different. Now, how didhttp://irvbad4nc.blogspot.com/2010/03/is-instant-runoff-voting-winner.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Joyce McCloy)