Waverly’s Ward 1 Councilman, Brian Birgen, has suggested the town should change how it does most elections, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Birgen, who is currently teaching a course at Wartburg called “The Mathematics of Democracy”, says the topic of instant runoff voting recently came up there and he thinks it could save the city money. Instant runoff voting or ranked choice voting allows voters to rank their top candidates in a single seat election with more than two candidates. If no candidate gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and voters who chose them would have their second choice counted. This form of voting is used in Australia, India, Ireland, as well as the state of Maine and cities like Minneapolis, St. Paul, and San Francisco, with New York City implementing it this year.
