Instant Runoff Voting is used by...

Organizations and Corporations
  • Utah Republican Party
  • Colorado's 26th District Democratic Party Vacancy Committee used IRV to fill a seat in March 2006
  • The American Political Science Association
  • The American Psychological Association
  • Sierra Club Student Coaliton
  • The American Medical Student Association
  • The American Philological Association
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  • Chaine des Rotisseurs, Bailliage des Etats-Unis
  • Hugo and Campbell Science Fiction Awards
  • Federal Reserve Regional Directors
  • Campbell Science Fiction Awards
  • Heisman Trophy
  • NCAA Ranking
  • International Olympic Committee
  • The National Youth Rights Association
  • The Consortium of College and Media Centers
  • Pacifica Radio
  • Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
Local governments currently using IRV
  • San Francisco, CA
  • Burlington, VT
  • Berkeley, CA
  • Takoma Park, MD
  • Oakland, CA
  • Louisiana
  • South Carolina
  • Arkansas
  • North Carolina
Local governments working on IRV implementation:
  • Minneapolis, MN
  • Pierce County, WA
  • Ferndale, MI
Local governments with an IRV option:
  • Vancouver, WA
  • Santa Clara County, CA
  • San Leandro, CA
  • Ann Arbor (MI), New York (NY), and Yonkers (NY) have used IRV in the past.
Colleges and Universities
  • The California Institute of Technology - The Associated Students of the California Institute of Technology use IRV to elect their Vice-President (Board of Control Chairperson), the Board of Control Secretary and the Interhouse Committee Chairperson.
  • California State University at Chico - One of the most recent IRV adoptions by a college student government.
  • Carleton College - Preferential voting is used at Carleton when more than two candidates are running for the following offices: Committee on Student Life Co-Chair/Liaison, Intercampus Liaison, and Education and Curriculum Committee Liaison. If no majority wins a seat, IRV is implemented. Read an update on the process.
  • Clark University - The Student Council at this Massachusetts university held its first instant runoff election in the fall. One of Clark's lead organizers, Zo Tobi, is currently working with FairVote on choice voting efforts in Davis, California.
  • College of William and Mary - The Student Assembly at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA approved IRV for all student elections.
  • Clemson University - Clemson University's Undergraduate Student Senate uses IRV for its internal student senate officer elections. For the offices of Student Senate President, Pro Tempore, Secretary and Clerk, IRV will be used.
  • Cornell University - Cornell University students use IRV to elect student members of the board of trustees.
  • Dartmouth College - Dartmouth’s Student Assembly wasted no time in preparing for its upcoming IRV election, developing an online voting site within weeks of passing the by-law.
  • Duke University - Duke’s Student Government has been electing its six executive committee members through IRV since Fall 2004.
  • Georgetown University - Georgetown University's Student Association recently voted in April 2006 to implement IRV for their next presidential elections. In fall 2006 students approved IRV for student Senate elections by a margin of ten-to-one. They held a remarkably successful election that October over the Internet.
  • Harvard University - The Graduate Dormitory Council, Graduate Music Forum and Graduate Student Council each use IRV for their internal executive position elections.
  • Hendrix College - Hendrix College used IRV for the first time during the 2003-04 academic year. Voter participation doubled and students said they were happy with the immediate results.
  • Johns Hopkins University - JHU used instant runoff voting for the first time during its freshman student council elections in the fall of 1999.
  • Lewis and ClarkCollege - The Associated Students' by-laws now call for instant runoff voting and choice voting, noting these methods "shall ensure that all ASLC elections are maximally representative and that each vote of an ASLC member counts," and that they "are the most democratic methods for counting votes in ASLC elections."
  • Luther College - Luther College in Iowa adopted IRV in the Spring of 2003. At first, the Student Government used IRV only for electing the President, Vice-President and Secretary, but this will be expanded to include class representatives to the Student Senate.
  • Macalester College - IRV was adopted in Spring 2003 at Macalester for the election of executive positions on the Student Council, and is now a part of the student government's constitution. Use of IRV has expanded to become the preferred method of voting for all one-seat elections.
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - MIT uses instant runoff voting for all of their student government elections including President, Vice-President, class councils and Student Senate. Its Web site includes detailed breakdowns of the transfer of votes within each election since 2000. See the MIT election archive.
  • Portland State University - Portland State overwhelmingly approved of IRV for key Associated Students races 79 to 21 percent after the Student Senate unanimously passed the measure in Feb. 2005. All the major candidate slates supported IRV. In 2006, the first IRV election enabled three slates to run, and resulted in a 51 to 49 percent tally between the strongest slates. See the Associated Students of Portland State University constitution.
  • Princeton University - Princeton's Undergraduate Student Government uses the single transferable vote system for its Senatorial and U-Council elections. Executive officer positions are excluded from this voting rule. See the USGPU Constitution, revised Dec. 2004.
  • Rice University - The Rice Student Association uses IRV to elect its members of single offices. One of the school's most recent elections for President included six candidates and 11 rounds of voting. See the Rice SA by-laws regarding election processes.
  • Reed College - The Reed Student Body Elections Code (as amended in April 2001) provides for IRV in its Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections.
  • Sonoma State University - After the adoption of IRV in San Francisco's city council elections, the students of Sonoma State University decided to move to IRV themselves. Sonoma State elections using IRV started in the 2004-05 academic year.
  • Stanford University - In 2001, the Associated Students of Stanford University adopted instant runoff voting for undergraduate senators, class presidents and special fee candidates. Since then, Stanford has continued to avoid costly and inconvenient runoff elections. See The Stanford Daily for press coverage of IRV.
  • Tufts University - The Tufts student body approved a new constitution for the Tufts Community Union. IRV was included in the new version both for the presidential election and the internal election of committee chairs. See the TCU Constitution, revised April 2003.
  • University of California at Berkeley - The Associated Students of the University of California at Berkeley uses IRV and a choice voting system to elect its officers. See the ASUC Constitution, revised April 2002.
  • University of California at Davis - The Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates of the Associated Students of the University of California at Davis are elected together through IRV. The Senate is elected via single transferrable vote, which was last used in the Winter 2006 elections. See the ASUCD Constitution, revised June 2005.
  • University of California at Los Angeles - The Graduate Students Association's executive officers, including the President and Vice-Presidents on Internal, External and Academic Affairs, are elected through IRV.
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign - Since 2002, the Illinois Student Senate has used instant runoff voting for executive office elections. The open-party list form of proportional representation is also used for legislative elections.
  • University of Minnesota - In a recent amendment to its constitution, the Minnesota Student Association stated the President and Vice-President shall be elected using IRV.
  • University of Oklahoma - The University of Oklahoma Student Association (UOSA) held its first IRV election - a four-way race for president - in March 2005. The chief election administrator and all candidates described the online instant runoff election as a success.
  • University of Virginia - The University Board of Elections, established in 2003, staged a mock 2004 U.S. presidential race using IRV. Pitting incumbent George W. Bush against a half-dozen challengers, the election resulted in a 3.2 percent margin of victory for senator John Kerry (D-MA).
  • University of Washington - The Graduate Student Government at the University of Washington has adopted instant runoff voting for single-winner elections, and the Undergraduate Student Government recently decided to implement IRV in their campuswide elections scheduled for May.
  • University of Wisconsin - The United Council of University of Wisconsin Students has adopted IRV to elect the president of its General Assembly, a body of about 150 representatives from schools across Wisconsin. The United Council is the nation's oldest, largest and strongest statewide student association, representing more than 145,000 students at 24 UW System Campuses.
  • Vassar College - During Sept. 2002, the Vassar Student Association voted nearly unanimously to adopt instant runoff voting and the choice voting form of full representation for future student elections.
  • Wake Forest University - After an especially contentious and delayed runoff election in Spring 2005, the WFUSG voted to adopt IRV for all executive elections.
  • Whitman College - The Associated Students of Whitman College recently passed a resolution to use IRV for its single-seat elections and choice voting to elect its Student Senate.
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