Monday, September 13, 2010

The up-coming use of the Instant Runoff Voting method to fill a vacancy on the NC Court of Appeals is beginning to get more media attention, which is good. But the 13 candidates in the race deserve attention, too; IRV works best when voters know more about the candidates. To help, a Special Edition of the Judicial Voter Guide is now posted on the website of the State Board of Elections and it will be mailed in early October to four million households. (The Voter Guide for five other appellate court races was already printed when the vacancy occurred; it’s at the same web address and will be mailed late this month.) The Special Edition includes profiles of the 13 candidates, plus information about voter registration, voting rights and the Instant Runoff Voting method, with a graphic illustration of the ballot. Producing a voter guide in appellate court races is an integral part of the state’s public campaign financing program, not the extra cost of having an IRV election. Like other judicial voter guides, the roughly $500,000 cost is paid by the Public Campaign Fund, from the voluntary $3 check-off and a surcharge on attorney dues, not from general tax funds. The same expense for this special edition would happen for a plurality election. While it’s far from ideal to have any election begin this late in the season, with or without IRV, it’s helpful that there is a source of funding through the Public Campaign Fund to provide an important educational booklet about the candidates and the voting method –- and to have it mailed statewide. Mailing to all households is actually much cheaper than picking only those with registered voters, and citizens who are not registered can still use Same-Day Registration at the One-Stop Early Voting sites. The Guide tells them how.