Legal Definitions - instant-runoff voting

Instant-runoff voting is a type of voting system where voters rank candidates in order of preference. Instead of having a second round of voting, the system uses each voter's ranked preferences to determine the winner.

For example, in an election with three candidates, a voter might rank them as follows: Candidate A (first choice), Candidate B (second choice), and Candidate C (third choice). If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the voters' second-choice preferences. This process continues until one candidate receives a majority of the votes.

Instant-runoff voting is also known as Hare-Ware voting or the West Australian plan.