Texas - We're Like a Whole Other Country!
Instant Runoff Voting for Texas supports the use of ranked choice voting (RCV) in the elections where it is permitted, but our work in Texas is different from the RCV campaigns you may have heard about in the news. What we are doing in Texas is different both in the objective we are trying to achieve and the process by which we will achieve it.
Our objective in Texas is different than other places. In Texas, we are not advocating for “open primaries;” we already have them. And we are not proposing to use Instant Runoff Voting in partisan general elections, which do not require a majority to win.
A Truly Texas Approach
In most states a candidate does not need majority support to win an election, just more votes than any other candidate. So it’s possible, with independent and third party candidates in a race, that 30% or fewer voters could decide the winner. Texas requires a majority to win primaries, special elections, and many nonpartisan local elections. Further, many states require voters to be a party member to vote in that party’s primary; independents are denied the right to vote in these closed-primary systems. To solve these problems, several states have adopted or proposed a system combining open primaries, narrowing the field to the top 4 or 5 candidates, and then using RCV in the general election among the top 4 or 5. This is the system used in Alaska and that was proposed in Arizona, Idaho and Nevada.
Instead, we look to solve the problems created by elections that more regularly require costly, low-turnout runoff elections to determine a winner. It is more costly both for taxpayers and candidates to go through weeks or months of additional campaigning, and then staff the polls and tally the votes in the runoff. Voters are often exhausted by the overwhelming campaign messages leading up to the initial election, tune out the noise from additional campaigning, and as a result participation in runoffs is often much lower.
To solve this problem, IRV for Texas supports Instant Runoff Voting in party primary elections, nonpartisan municipal elections, and special elections required to fill unexpected mid-term vacancies. In addition, to prevent disenfranchising citizens serving in the military or working overseas, we promote the use of a specialized form of IRV for these voters in all elections.
The Process to Advance Better Elections in Texas
You may have also heard that RCV was “on the ballot” in a number of states. These states pursue election reform through statewide ballot initiatives. Texas law does not provide for ballot initiatives like this. Instead, we need to work with the Texas Legislature to enact changes to the Texas Election Code that would permit the use of Instant Runoff Voting in the cases listed above.