By Jack Santucci

February 23, 2008--Santa Fe, NM voters will decide March 4 whether to use instant runoff voting in municipal elections. The campaign website is here.

The area’s major daily, the Santa Fe New Mexican, has come out against Amendment 5.

Amendment 5 is for "instant runoff", or "ranked-choice" voting: Make your first choice, second choice, third choice, etc. This would, at last, ensure majority-elected politicians, más o menos — but it depends on well-run elections using special computer programs. We say wait and see how it works in huge numbers of other cities — and, for now, vote against.

Fear of technology is a bad reason to sideline principles like majority rule that the editors otherwise support - especially since the number of US cities successfully using IRV grows each year.

The campaign needs help. If you're in the region, you can get involved. No matter where you are, you can donate here.

Adapted from Jack Santucci's blog post at The Democratic Piece. Jack is a former staff member at FairVote and a graduate student at Georgetown University.

Last revised February 23, 2008