Michigan Focus on Reforming Elections (M-FORE) and
Ferndale for Instant Runoff Voting (F-IRV)
As I discuss in the section on my political beliefs, I feel that Instant Runoff Voting is one of the three or four most crucial changes that we need in order to have anything resembling true democracy in the United States. I, along with some others, suggested that a group be formed to focus on bringing awareness to this, and many other necessary election reforms in Michigan. Together, we formed Michigan Focus on Reforming Elections (M-FORE). I was involved with M-FORE for the first couple of months of its existence, was inactive in it for a while, and was then active again through its first major offshoot, Ferndale for Instant Runoff Voting (F-IRV).I helped create the F-IRV website along with a friend and this organization became a channel for most of my political energy. After meeting some of the major figures in election reform in the U.S. and overseas at the Claim Democracy Conference in Washington, D.C. in November, 2003, I returned well educated on the process of coordinating a ballot initiative to institute IRV.
During a long and exciting campaign, Ferndale for Instant Runoff Voting managed to educate many citizens about election reform, draw endorsements from around the country, raise funds (with great support from FairVote), and bring a lot of attention to the issue of Instant Runoff Voting in the news. We succeeded in November 2004 by passing Proposal B, which moved the city of Ferndale, Michigan towards adopting Instant Runoff Voting as the means of electing its mayor and city council. It was the third city in the country in recent years to adopt such a measure, becoming another model of success for fellow activists around the country. Since then, reformers in several other areas have gone on to pass IRV measures, and I expect more to follow suit in the coming years.
For more information about Instant Runoff Voting in Michigan, visit:
For an interesting update on the status of Instant Runoff Voting in Ferndale, as of October, 2013, read this blog post.