Reply #15: IRV less fair to minorities

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

Is IRV fairer to voters?

According to the Dec 2004 report on San Francisco's IRV election, by the Public Research Institute at San Francisco University:

Education, income, race and language tied to understanding of IRV

Overall, 1 in 8 expressed some lack in understanding of IRV.

Understanding of IRV by all voters polled
nearly 1/3 (31%) of voters who came to the polls did not know they would be asked to rank candidates
about 1/2 (52%) of those surveyed said they understood RCV "perfectly well"
35% said they understood it "fairly well"
11% said they "did not understand it entirely"
3% said they "did not understand it at all".

Breakdown by race - of voters reporting a lack of understanding
African Americans (23%)
Latinos (19%)
"Other" racial/ethinic groups (17%)
Asian (13%)
White (12%)
Percent of voters who actually ranked candidates
59% reported ranking three candidates
14% reported ranking two candidates
23% reported ranking only one candidate
The self-reported incidence of ranking three candidates was lowest among
African Americans, Latinos, voters with less education, and those whose first language was not english.

The lack of prior knowledge, understanding, and full use of the Ranked-Choice system among some groups
of citizens are concerns that should capture the focus of citizens and government alike and shape efforts to find
remedies in future elections.
http://pri.sfsu.edu/reports/SFSU-PRI%20Ranked%20Choice%20Voting%20Preliminary%20Report.pdf

Pretty sorry that after two years of public discussion and promotion, that so many were not educated about the new voting system used in their city.