ATLANTA — An effort that could lead eventually to the elimination of runoff elections in Georgia has surfaced in the General Assembly.
State Rep. Joseph Gullett, R-Dallas, introduced a bill into the Georgia House this week that would allow Georgia cities to experiment with instant runoff voting in nonpartisan municipal elections.
“This legislation promotes local control,” said Gullett. “If passed, it gives cities the option to avoid the cost of expensive runoff elections while maintaining the principle of majority rule.
“Cities that don’t want it, don’t have to do it, and cities that try it and don’t like it, can go back to their original system. This bill provides flexibility and options, not mandates.”
Runoffs have drawn a number of critics in Georgia in recent years, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, whose department oversees elections.
Besides the expense of holding an additional election, Raffensperger argued Georgians who vote in general elections in early November don’t want their Thanksgiving holidays interrupted by runoff campaigns and having to go back to the polls a second time.
Under an instant runoff voting system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins more than half of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated.
At that point, voters who selected the defeated candidate as their top choice have those votes added to the totals of their next choice. The process continues until a…
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