IRV given new life

The Vermont Senate gave an Instant Run-off Voting bill final approval Thursday in a 16-12 vote.

The bill - the product of Windham County Sen. Jeanette White's Senate Government Operations Committee - will now be sent to the Vermont House, where Rep. Donna Sweaney, D-Windsor, the chair of that chamber's government operations committee, is expected to push hard for its swift approval.

Supporters of the bill - which calls for IRV to be used in U.S. Senate and U.S. House races starting in 2008 - say it needs to pass in this legislative session, which is scheduled to end early next month, for it to take effect. Otherwise, the earliest election it could be implemented for would be 2010.

Expect Sweaney's committee to officially get the bill next week.

-Dan Barlow