IRV in Oakland

The Oakland City Council recently decided to let voters decide in November whether to do away with midyear primaries for city offices and instead use Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). This system, already in use in San Francisco, provides instant results through ranked-choice voting. For an excellent analysis of the system, see the background paper that was crucial in making the case for IRV in Oakland. Truman Scholar Nicolas Heidorn wrote the backgrounder, as well as an op-ed on the topic in The San Diego Union-Tribune. (Confession of professorial pride: Mr. Heidorn did research on IRV as an honors thesis at Claremont McKenna College under my supervision.)