C. INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING
The North Carolina Green Party supports a system of Instant Runoff Voting, preferably as follows:
- Where a single seat is to be filled, each voter designates on a ballot up to four non-identical choices, ranked in order of preference.
All ballots are initially counted based on first preference.
If a candidate has a majority after the first count, that candidate wins.
If no candidate has a majority of votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped, and that candidate's ballots are recounted by the voters' second choices.
If a candidate has a majority at this point, that candidate wins.
If no candidate has a majority, again the hindmost candidate is dropped, and that candidate's ballots are recounted by the voters' next choices.
The process continues until one candidate receives a majority.
- Where multiple seats are to be filled, each voter ranks a number of non-identical choices equaling the number of seats to be filled, plus three.
All ballots are initially counted by the highest-ranked choices for the number of seats – for example, the highest four if four seats are to be filled. Winners are then determined by simple plurality, with the additional requirement that to win, a candidate must receive votes from a majority of the voters.
If an insufficient number of candidates meet this requirement, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped, and that candidate's ballots are recounted by the voters' next choices.
This process repeats until candidates who received votes from a majority of voters fill all seats, or until all alternate choices on all ballots have been exhausted, at which point the remaining seats may be filled by simple plurality