New Instant Runoff Voting Pilot to be Used in Cary

On Election Day, Tuesday, October 9, Cary voters will be the first in North Carolina to use instant runoff voting. As part of a pilot program, voters will be asked to rank the candidates for each Town Council seat in their order of preference, up to three candidates.

At the end of Election Day, all of the first-choice rankings will be counted. If a candidate receives a majority of the first-choice rankings, then the election is over and a winner is declared with no need of a runoff. However, if no candidate receives a majority of first-choice rankings, then an instant runoff will begin. If you voted for one of the top two candidates in Column 1, your vote stays with that candidate and Column 2 and 3 will not be reviewed.

In the instant runoff, the voter's second choice, if any, for one of the top two candidates will be counted. If the voter did not mark a second choice for either of the top two candidates, the voter's third choice, if any, for one of the top two candidates will be counted.

The Town of Cary is expected to save $60,000 this year by eliminating the need for a run off election in November. A public service announcement explaining the instant runoff system in detail is available at www.wakegov.com/elections.