Instant Runoff Voting

One-stop voting in North Carolina starts next Thursday, October 14. In Pamlico County, our only one-stop voting location is at County Board of Elections headquarters at the courthouse in Bayboro.

A good reason to vote at one-stop is that you can take your time, study the information on the candidates, and cast an informed vote at your own convenience.

This may be especially important for the instant runoff vote for a vacancy on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. This will be a historic first. There has not been an instant runoff vote in the United States for a statewide office since the 1930's.

Instant runoff means you won't have to come back for a second round of voting for that office. Here's the way it works:

1. You cast your vote on the same iVotronics touch-screen machine as for the other offices, unless you use a paper ballot (absentee by mail, curbside or provisional vote).

2. When you get to the choice for Court of Appeals, choose the candidate you prefer for the office in the "first choice" column.

3. If you have a second choice candidate (in case your first choice doesn't win in the first round of counting or make it to the second round of counting), mark the second choice in that column.

4. If you have a third choice, mark that choice in the third column.

5. Be sure to pick a different candidate for each choice.

At this point, your job is done. Cast your ballot as you always do.

No need to read further unless you are unusually curious about the process.

For election officials, the job has just begun.

On election night the first place votes will be counted. If any one of the thirteen candidates wins more than 50% of the votes cast for that office, that candidate wins. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the votes cast, then the top two candidates move into the second round of vote counting.

Now it gets complicated. The second round of counting will take place after the official canvass of the November 2nd vote. (Ranking of the top two candidates won't be official until then).

The second round will be a hand count. Vote counters will have to count using the following rules:

1. Examine each ballot. If the voter's first choice is in the runoff, do not count the second or third choice.

2. If the voter's first choice is not in the runoff and the second choice is in the runoff, count the second choice votes. Add the second choice votes to the first choice votes (remember, there are only two candidates remaining at this point).

3. If neither the voter's first choice nor second choice is in the runoff but the third choice is in the runoff, count the third choice votes. Add the third choice votes to the first and second choice votes for the two runoff candidates.

4. The candidate with the most votes wins.

Simple.