Tuesday’s Special Democratic Primary for the State Senate race was a clear-cut example of the need for Instant Runoff. Unofficial results put Sal DiDomenico about 135 votes above the runner-up, Tim Flaherty. The Massachusetts Election 2010 blog has the rough percentage breakdown:

Sal DiDomenico 30%
Tim Flaherty 29%
Denise Simmons 20%
Mike Albano 10%
Dennis Benzan 8%
Dan Hill 1%

Vote-splitting appears [...]

[ September 2, 2009; 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. ] Senator John Kerry will be holding a Town Hall at Somerville High School this Wednesday, September 2 from 7:30-9:00pm. The event information from his website has been copied below.

Join Senator John Kerry and discuss the issues at an open Town Hall in Somerville, MA. The seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so arrive [...]

It was over a year ago, in May of 2008, that I posted to Somerville Voices my idea for changing the 89 bus route to better serve Somerville residents. My chief complaint being that there was no easy return trip from Davis Square after 7pm on weekdays and no service on weekends. Well, earlier this [...]

I just read the article in the Somerville Journal in which the aldermen discussed various ideas for trimming the city’s budget. That motivated me to write the following Letter to the Editor in favor of replacing the preliminary elections with a single election with Instant Runoff Voting.

[ November 2, 2008; 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. ] This Sunday, the Progressive Democrats of Somerville are headed up to New Hampshire with the Cambridge and Somerville for Obama group. The Cambridge and Somerville for Obama group has been doing fantastic work and just last Sunday, sent 130 canvassers up to New Hampshire!

I submitted the following letter on behalf of several individuals to the initial public comment period of the Somerville Charter Advisory Committee advocating the use of Instant Runoff Voting for municipal elections in Somerville.

On Monday, I went to the Union Square rezoning meeting held at Somerville High. I took my laptop with me and took the following “live blog” notes. The slides and maps are available on the city website.

Somerville for IRV is a group I started for exploring the benefits of Instant Runoff Voting for local elections here in Somerville. In the coming weeks, I’ll begin a series of posts that highlight the many benefits of using IRV for our municipal races, but first, let me explain what in the world IRV is.

I’m proposing the 89 bus route be changed as shown (bigger image here):

For the reasons why read on . . .