Human Rights Party (United States) - The HRP and Instant-runoff Voting in Ann Arbor

The HRP and Instant-runoff Voting in Ann Arbor

With the introduction of a strong third party in Ann Arbor, concerns grew among Democrats and HRP supporters that the city's progressive vote would be split, thus allowing Republicans to win offices on pluralities. This scenario came to pass soon after the emergence of the HRP. In 1973 Republican James E. Stephenson won the mayoral office with a plurality, defeating Democratic candidate Franz J. Mogdis and HRP candidate Benita Kaimowitz despite garnering only 47% of the vote. To head off a repeat of this result, the HRP spearheaded a petition campaign to place the Instant-runoff voting (IRV) system on the city ballot in spring of 1974. Most Democratic and HRP voters supported the proposal, which passed with 52% approval.

In April 1975, during the first (and only) Ann Arbor mayoral race using IRV, the Republican incumbent James E. Stephenson received 49% of the first-choice ballots, leading his Democratic challenger Al Wheeler, who received 40%, and the HRP candidate Carol Ernst with 11%. However, since most HRP voters had ranked Wheeler as their second choice, these votes moved to the Democrat's column, and Wheeler won the election by a slim 121 votes, becoming the city's first African American mayor. The election represented the first use of IRV in a U.S. mayoral contest.

The IRV system survived a court challenge by Republicans, but Ann Arbor voters repealed the system in an April 1976 special election. The IRV system was not again used in a United States election until San Francisco began using a similar system in 2004.