Irmo pushes for instant runoff voting
Originally published by Sophia Sousa for Lexington County Chronicle
At the most recent town council meeting, the Town of Irmo officially passed a resolution supporting Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). The town wants the state legislature to allow towns and municipalities the option to use this voting system.
Irmo currently uses a plurality voting system, where the candidate with the most votes wins even if they don’t have a majority. This is the method used by 117 municipalities in South Carolina.
In contrast, about 150 municipalities in the state use a majority-runoff system. Under this system, if no candidate wins a majority, a second runoff election is held two weeks later to determine the winner.