December 25, 2002

AT LEAST TWO candidates running for mayor are actively seeking the progressive vote – Sup. Tom Ammiano and attorney Angela Alioto – and while they have disagreements and will certainly have clashes, both should set the tone for the race by agreeing that instant-runoff voting is crucial to either of their chances and publicly pledging to do whatever is necessary to make sure the system is in place for the November election.

IRV, as the system is called, is a major progressive reform. It allows voters to select not only their first-choice candidate but also a second-choice candidate on the same ballot. If, when the votes are tallied, nobody gets a majority, the candidates that wouldn't have made a runoff are eliminated and the second-place votes are allocated. Essentially, the system calls for voters to conduct two elections – general and runoff – on the same ballot.

The advantages for the likes of Ammiano and Alioto are obvious: in a three-way race against Sup. Gavin Newsom, most of those who choose Ammiano will choose Alioto second, and vice-versa. That gives the two progressive candidates an incentive not to attack each other but to work together on the issues on which they agree (public power, for example). It also dramatically increases the chance that one of them will emerge on top.