CfER conducts IRV Straw Poll of California Republican Delegates

At the California Republican Convention on September 16-17, Californians for Electoral Reform conducted a straw poll using Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV. Using IRV, a voter ranks candidates in order of choice: first choice, second choice, and so on.

After the first round, if no single candidate has a majority of “first choice” votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is dropped, and the dropped candidate’s “second choice” votes are substituted (since the “first choice” i.e. that candidate has been dropped). This process is repeated until a single candidate has a majority. Thus, the “lesser of two evils” problem is eliminated and democracy thrives anew.

The following is reproduced with permission from the Californians for Electoral Reform website. See the original at:

http://cfer.org/outreach/pressreleaseSept2011.pdf

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Second poll confirms Ron Paul strength among California Republican Delegates, lack of willingness of Ron Paul supporters to consider other candidates

An official “straw poll” released by the California Republican Party on September 17 showed U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas an overwhelming winner 44.9% support with in a crowded field of presidential candidates. That percentage was echoed with 45.8% of first place votes in a simultaneous survey taken by nonpartisan Californians for Electoral Reform (CfER).

The CfER poll shows a closer race for second place among California GOP activists, with 16.2% of first place votes for Rick Perry and 13.2% for Mitt Romney, compared with 29.3% and 8.8% respectively in the official straw poll. Michele Bachmann placed fourth with 7.2% (versus 7.7% in the straw poll), Newt Gingrich was fifth with 3.9%, Rick Santorum was sixth with 3%. Tied for seventh place with 2.4% each were Herman Cain and write-in candidate Sarah Palin. Seven other candidates shared the remaining six percent of first place votes.

What makes the CfER survey interesting is that participants were asked to rank as many candidates as they wanted, putting the number “1″ by their first choice, “2″ by their second favorite, and so on. Ranked Choice Ballots give each respondent the opportunity to express who they favor most and who else they are willing to accept in a fallback position.
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