Reality:  IRV results in winners elected by a majority of votes in the final round – in the decisive high turnout General Election.

The purpose of IRV is to consolidate a two-election runoff into a more efficient, cheaper and participatory single-election runoff.  Some voters will choose to rank one candidate and elect not to participate in the runoff should that candidate not make it through the first round or two. IRV elects the winner of a majority of voters continuing in the final round and does so in the election with the highest and most diverse turnout.  

As we saw in the previous page, the fall off in voter participation in the final round of an IRV election is no where near the fall off in participation in a primary or a runoff under a two-election system. Effective voter participation is much higher under IRV.

Some jurisdictions, such as Minneapolis are using a system that limits voters to three choices, due to limitations of current voting equipment. When it comes time to purchase new machines, ballots can be designed to provide voters with the opportunity to rank more than three choices if they wish.