Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is a ranked ballot method of voting that always results in winners chosen by a majority of the voters. On the ballot, voters  rank the candidates in order of preference. Each voter has one vote which counts for the highest preferred candidate that can use it. Votes for defeated candidates are transferred to other candidates still in the race for each round of counting.  It’s just like a series of runoff elections except that it is accomplished on one ballot – hence the term, “Instant Runoff Voting.” 

While this voting method is commonly referred to as Instant Runoff Voting for single seat elections, the actual method of counting is “Single Transferable Vote” (STV) and can be applied to both single seat elections (i.e., Mayor, City Council, and Park Board Districts) and multi-seat elections (i.e., Park Board at Large, Library Board, and the Board of Estimate and Taxation).  The actual counting of votes is best illustrated with examples of each. 

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