Hendersonville City Council Election
November 6, 2007
Instant Runoff
Voting
A Pilot Program
How Did Instant Runoff Voting
Work In Hendersonville?
Instant Runoff Voting combined the Primary and
General Election days into one election. Voters
indicated their top choices for the two available
seats, then in a second step, they
ranked the remaining candidates
in order of preference.
Hendersonville City Council
IRV Ballot
Page 1
Hendersonville City Council
IRV Ballot
Page 2
Instant Runoff
Voting Tabulation
STEP ONE: First Round of Counting
Voters select their choices for the two City Council
seats just as they have done in previous elections.
They are allowed to vote for as many as two
candidates for the two at-large positions. Following
the election, the voters’ choices are tallied. If a
candidate(s) gets enough votes to win, then they are
declared the winner and no further counting is
necessary.
Instant Runoff
Voting Tabulation
STEP TWO: Second Round of Counting
If one or both seats lack a candidate with enough
votes to reach the majority threshold, the top
candidates move into the instant runoff round. The
winners are then determined by adding their first
round totals to any alternate votes they receive in the
second round. The candidate(s) with a majority of the
votes after the two rounds of counting wins.
Challenges Faced In Conducting
Hendersonville IRV
• Time constraint: City Council approved on Aug. 9th,
CBE approval on Aug. 15th
• “Vote for Two” versus conventional
IRV method of “Vote for One”
• DRE/IVO machines: 1) IRV most commonly
conducted through paper ballots; 2) voters still learning
machines
• Controversial Land Transfer Tax issue on countywide
ballot – overshadowed council race
Challenges Faced In Conducting
Hendersonville IRV (cont.)
• Required targeted/city only voter education
• Separate poll worker education
• Candidate education: specifically regarding
tabulation – voting is easy; tabulation is the hard part
• Large elderly population
• Limited media outlets
What Was Involved?
• AUGUST 15th: IRV approved by CBE
• ON-GOING: Demonstration machine at CBE
• LABOR DAY WEEKEND: Apple
Festival Demonstration with League of
Women Voters
• MID-SEPTEMBER: Information
posted on city website
• MID-SEPTEMBER: Organized & publicized upcoming
demonstrations and educational sessions
• LATE SEPTEMBER: League of Women Voters planning
meeting
What Was Involved? (cont.)
• OCTOBER: Informational
flyer/sample ballot mailed in every
city water/utility bill
• OCTOBER: Presentations to 3
residential associations, League of
Women Voters sponsored forum, &
city hall demonstration (TV coverage)
• MID-OCTOBER: Developed exit poll with NCSU professor
• LATE OCTOBER: Poll worker education, exit poll &
volunteer training
• ELECTION DAY: Voter assistance, exit poll
What Helped Make Hendersonville
IRV Successful?
• Strong City support
• Backed by candidates
• Positive press:
local newspaper editorial
“a stroke of common sense”
• Assistance from League of Women Voters
• No other primaries or elections leading up to November
• Support from State Board
Pilot vs. Old Method
• One election vs. two
• Cost savings to City
• Candidates save time and money in
campaigning
• Cost savings to County – prepare
once; limited cost in education (only
$442 material costs)
• One day of voting ensured higher voter turnout
• BONUS: demos were another opportunity to educate
voters on iVotronic/DRE voting machines
Things To Keep In Mind
• Instant may not be INSTANT… provisionals, curbsides,
etc., have to be considered and close races may delay the
results
• Strength of candidate field can make a
big difference
• Hendersonville had no instant
runoff in the end – there were
two clear winners in the first
round and additional rounds of
counting were not needed
Exit Poll Findings: Comparison of
Cary & Hendersonville
Developed by Dr. Michael Cobb,
Assistant Professor of Political Science, NC State University
(website: http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/cobb/)
Before coming to vote today, did you know the ballot would allow
you to select your top choices for City Council and then to rank
your remaining preferences?
City
Yes
No
Town of Cary
76%
25%
Hendersonville
65%
35%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800
Was the option of ranking candidates easy/hard for you to
understand or hard/easy for you to understand?
City
Town of Cary
Hendersonville
Percentage
Very easy to understand
Somewhat easy to understand
81%
14%
Somewhat hard to understand
4%
Very hard to understand
1%
Very easy to understand
Somewhat easy to understand
Somewhat hard to understand
60%
26%
12%
Very hard to understand
3%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800
(Cary) “Did you rank more than one candidate today”
(Hendersonville) “After selecting your top one or two choices, did
you rank any of the remaining candidates today?”
City
Yes
No
Town of Cary
69%
31%
Hendersonville
63%
37%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800
“Do you prefer ranking candidates to avoid a run-off election – or
voting for only one or two candidates where a second election
might be necessary?”
“Which do you prefer – to rank the candidates to determine a
winner in a single election, or to have a second election if it is
needed?”
(Split ballot design for Hendersonville; Cary A form only)
City
Percentage
68%
5%
Town of Cary
Prefers Ranking (IRV)
Prefers each equally
Prefers voting for single
candidates/separate run-off
67%
5%
Hendersonville
Prefers Ranking (IRV)
Prefers each equally
Prefers voting for single
candidates/separate run-off
27%
28%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800 (percentages are the average of the A & B forms)
If you DID NOT rank any candidates, what was the primary
reason?
City
Town of Cary
Hendersonville
Percentage
Unsure how ranking works
Ranking would harm first choice
Did not know enough about other
candidates
Remaining candidates too similar to
rank
7%
23%
Other
24%
Unsure how ranking works
Ranking would harm first choice
Did not know enough about other
candidates
Remaining candidates too similar to
rank
25%
17%
Other
12%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800
40%
7%
40%
5%
Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “Compared to
previous Council elections, I was more informed about the
candidates’ positions on the issues.”
City
Town of Cary
Hendersonville
Percentage
Agree
Neither Agree or Disagree
Disagree
Not asked
Not asked
Not asked
Agree
Neither Agree or Disagree
41%
45%
Disagree
14%
Note: Cary N > 1,600; Hendersonville N > 800 (percentages are the average of the A & B forms)
Questions?
Henderson County Board of Elections
(828) 697-4970
Tom Wilson, Chairman
Betty Gash, Secretary
Joseph Abrell, Member
Beverly Cunningham, Director
North Carolina State Board of Elections
(919) 733-7173
Gary Bartlett, Executive Director
Don Wright, General Counsel
Karen Brinson, District 1 Elections Technician