LOD: Off With Runoffs?

Only 3.6% of registered North Carolina voters cast ballots in the runoff election on July 17. That’s about one-tenth of the already miserable turnout rate for the May primary – 34.7%.  FairVote’s analysis of the runoff notes that more North Carolinians believe in fairies and vampires than voted in July. The losers in the primary received far more votes than were cast in the runoff, indicating it’s a fairly useless tool for building party consensus behind a nominee.  FairVote also notes that editorial writers and NC organizations across the political spectrum think Instant Runoff Voting would be a viable alternative to the expensive, low-turnout method now used to pick a party’s nominee for positions like Commissioner of Insurance or Secretary of State.