Electoral reform in North Carolina refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws in the Tar Heel State.
Cary, North Carolina was scheduled to hold its first ranked-choice voting (RCV) / instant runoff voting (IRV) election on October 9, 2007, and Hendersonville, North Carolina was scheduled to use RCV/IRV for the first time on November 6, 2007. Wake County, North Carolina had chosen Cary as a test site for the system. [1]
In 2007, bills were introduced to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and award the state's 15 electoral votes to the winner of the nationwide popular vote, but these bills did not become law.
In 2009 a bill was introduced by North Carolina State Senator Jim Jacumin on March 19, 2009 as SB731, the Electoral Freedom Act of 2009. Soon after North Carolina State Senator Andrew C. Brock [2] signed on as a Co-Sponsor of the Electoral Freedom Act. On March 24, 2009 the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary I, [3] where was never brought back up and died in committee when it missed the legislative cross over deadline for non-appropriation/budget bills. The goal of the Electoral Freedom Act of 2009 was to amend NC Election Law in NCGS Chapter 163 [4] to reduce the number of signatures needed for third political parties and unaffiliated candidates to obtain access to the NC election ballot. [5]
In 2011 the Free the Vote North Carolina geared up for an electoral reform legislative project, which by and large was a reviving of the bill introduced in 2009 and with some new additions, the Electoral Freedom Act of 2011 [6] (Bill Proposal PDF). The goal of the Electoral Freedom Act of 2011 was to amend NC Election Law in NCGS Chapter 163 [4] to reduce the number of signatures needed for third political parties and unaffiliated candidates to obtain access to the NC election ballot as well as eliminating the current requirement for write-in candidates to obtain signatures to have votes cast for them counted. The bill had the support of many political parties in North Carolina including the American Centrist Party of North Carolina which issued a press release in support of the bill proposal. [7]
In 2021 Local Chapter of STAR_voting has been organized working toward implementing STAR Voting method in North Carolina.
In STAR Voting, voters are given a score, or ratings ballot, on which each voter scores every candidate with a number from 0 to 5, where 0 representing "worst" and 5 representing "best." The scores for each candidate are then summed, and the two highest-scored candidates are selected as finalists. In the automatic-runoff round, the finalist who was given a higher score on a greater number of ballots is selected as the winner.
The two-round system, also called ballotage, top-two runoff, or two-round plurality, is a single winner voting method. It is sometimes called plurality-runoff, although this term can also be used for other, closely-related systems such as ranked-choice voting or the exhaustive ballot. It falls under the class of plurality-based voting rules, together with instant-runoff and first-past-the-post (FPP). In a two-round system, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, the two candidates with the most votes in the first round proceed to a second round where all other candidates are excluded. Both rounds are held under choose-one voting, where the voter marks a single favored candidate.
In social choice, the negative responsiveness, perversity, or additional support paradox is a pathological behavior of some voting rules, where a candidate loses as a result of having "too much support" from some voters, or wins because they had "too much opposition". In other words, increasing (decreasing) a candidate's ranking or rating causes that candidate to lose (win), contrary to common sense. Electoral systems that do not exhibit perversity are said to satisfy the positive response or monotonicitycriterion.
Third party, or minor party, is a term used in the United States' two-party system for political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties.
Ballot access are rules and procedures regulating the right to candidacy, the conditions under which a candidate, political party, or ballot measure is entitled to appear on voters' ballots in elections in the United States.
Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a ranked voting method used in single-winner elections. IRV is also known outside the US as the alternative vote (AV). Today it is in use at a national level to elect the Australian House of Representatives, the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, the President of Ireland and President of India. In Australia it is also used for elections to the legislative assemblies of all states and territories except Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory, and for the Tasmanian Legislative Council.
Electoral reform in Virginia refers to efforts to change the electoral system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia has undergone much electoral change since its settling in 1607, many of which were required by federal legislation. However, it remains a relatively conservative state in this respect compared to California and others which have experimented with various alternative systems.
Electoral reform in the United States refers to the efforts of change for American elections and the electoral system used in the US.
Electoral reform in Minnesota refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws.
Electoral reform in Maryland refers to efforts, proposals and plans to change the election and voting laws in Maryland. In 2007, Maryland became the first U.S. state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. Bills have also been introduced to implement instant runoff voting (IRV) statewide, but they have failed, largely due to legislators' concerns about complicating the election process and causing technical problems similar to those encountered by Florida during the 2000 U.S. Presidential election. However, Takoma Park, Maryland adopted IRV in 2006 after it won 84% approval in an advisory ballot measure on November 8, 2005. Maryland is the home of the electoral reform organization Fairvote. In 2007, Maryland's Board of Elections Administrator, Linda Lamone, was quoted in Diebold advertising literature.
Electoral reform in Colorado refers to efforts to change the voting laws in the Centennial State.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in the United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV), the main difference being whether only one winner or multiple winners are elected.
Instant-runoff voting (IRV), is a single-winner, multi-round elimination rule that uses ranked voting to simulate a series of runoff elections. In each round, the last-place finisher according to a plurality vote is eliminated, and the votes supporting the eliminated choice are transferred to their next available preference until one of the options reaches a majority of the remaining votes. Instant runoff falls under the plurality-with-elimination family of voting methods, and is thus closely related to rules like the exhaustive ballot and two-round runoff system
The 2009 Burlington mayoral election was the second mayoral election since the city's 2005 change to instant-runoff voting (IRV), also known as ranked-choice voting (RCV), after the 2006 mayoral election. In the 2009 election, incumbent Burlington mayor won reelection as a member of the Vermont Progressive Party, defeating Kurt Wright in the final round with 48% of the vote.
Free the Vote North Carolina is a North Carolina-focused Political Action Committee with the primary goal of lobbying for ballot access reform, to reduce burden on political third parties and unaffiliated candidates. The group seeks to educate North Carolinians about ballot access in their state, and equip voters with the knowledge of where candidates stand on voting right. They also advocate for the reformation of the State's candidate nomination system, and the system of primary elections.
Constitution Party of North Carolina is the North Carolina affiliate of the Constitution Party. It was founded in 2008 out of a former NC Chapter of the Constitution Party. The Party's chairman is Al Pisano who was first elected to the position in 2008 as the State Party's first chairman and was re-elected in 2010 for an additional two year term.
The North Carolina Green Party is a political party in the state of North Carolina, and the NC affiliate of the Green Party of the United States. It has officially qualified for ballot access as of 27 March 2018, until 2020 statewide election. Since 2006, it has worked in collaboration with other organizations seeking to reform state election laws.
A unified primary is an electoral system for narrowing the field of candidates for a single-winner election, similar to a nonpartisan blanket primary, but using approval voting for the first round, advancing the top-two candidates, allowing voters to confirm the majority-supported candidate in the general election.
STAR voting is an electoral system for single-seat elections. The name stands for "Score Then Automatic Runoff", referring to the fact that this system is a combination of score voting, to pick two finalists with the highest total scores, followed by an "automatic runoff" in which the finalist who is preferred on more ballots wins. It is a type of cardinal voting electoral system.
A final-four or final-five primary is an electoral system using a nonpartisan primary by multi-winner plurality in the first step.
Center squeeze is a kind of spoiler effect seen in rules like two-round and ranked-choice voting (RCV). In a center squeeze, the majority-preferred and socially-optimal candidate is eliminated by a more extreme alternative in an early round. The term can also refer to tendency of such rules to encourage polarization among elected officials.