Instant-runoff voting debuts in state, county elections

North Carolinians will get their first taste of instant-runoff voting on Nov. 2, when a 13-candidate field for the N.C. Court of Appeals appears on the statewide ballot. And according to an N.C. Bar Association report, this marks the first time nationally that the new form of voting will be used by a state.

A one-week special filing period for the seat of N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Jim Wynn, who moved to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, ended on Aug. 31 with 13 candidates signing up — five of them on the last day.

And for Buncombe County voters, a second instant-runoff contest will be on the ballot due to the three-candidate contest for Superior Court judge, the result of a special late-filing period necessitated by Judge Dennis Winner’s retirement (for additional information, click here).

In an instant-runoff election, voters rank their top three candidates in order of preference. If a candidate wins a majority, she or he becomes the winner. If there is no majority — which may be the case in a 13-person race — then the top two candidates face a new round of counting, turning to the second- and third-place votes. According to the N.C. law: “Each ballot counts as a vote for whichever of the two final candidates is ranked highest by the voter. The candidate with the most votes in the second round wins the election.”

Instant-runoff candidates for Buncombe County’s District 28 Superior Court are local attorney Diane K. McDonald; attorney Heather Whitaker Goldstein, who is executive director of the Jewish Community Center in Asheville; and District Judge Marvin Pope. (A second Superior Court seat will be decided between Assistant District Attorney Kate Dreher and Judge Alan Thornburg, who won the May 4 primary.)

Candidates for the statewide instant runoff election to the Court of Appeals are: John F. Bloss of Greensboro, 
J. Wesley Casteen of Wilmington; Chris Dillon of Raleigh, 
Jewel Ann Farlow of Greensboro, 
Daniel E. Garner of Wake Forest, Stan Hammer of Greensboro, 
Mark E. Klass of Lexington, 
Doug McCullough of Atlantic Beach, Anne Middleton of Raleigh, Harry E. Payne Jr. of Raleigh, John Sullivan of Raleigh, Cressie Thigpen of Raleigh, and
 Pamela M. Vesper of Raleigh.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

3 thoughts on “Instant-runoff voting debuts in state, county elections

  1. Unhappy Voter

    Ms. Holder, thank you for your political writings. It appears your’s is the only close look at local and state happenings in our local media. We need more so we can make better decisions.

  2. Richie Rich

    The three most conservative candidates are Chris Dillon, Daniel E. Garner and Doug McCullough. NC State Board of Elections sent out a non-partisan “Special Edition of the 2010 Judicial Voter Guide” and it has descriptions of all 13. Some are easy to tell, but I did some research and turned up the above three as the most conservative candidates. I agree with Mark Levin: vote for the most conservative candidate(s)!

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.