Instant-runoff voting

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Instant-runoff voting (IRV), also known as plurality-with-elimination^[1] or the alternative vote (AV),^[2] combines ranked voting (in which voters rank candidates rather than choosing only a single preferred candidate) together with a system for choosing winners from these rankings by repeatedly eliminating the candidate with the fewest first-place votes and reassigning their votes until only one candidate is left.^[3][4] It can be seen as a modified form of a runoff election or exhaustive ballot in which, after eliminating some candidates, the choice among the rest is made from already-given voter rankings rather than from a separate election. Many sources conflate this system of choosing winners with ranked-choice voting more generally, for which several other systems of choosing winners have also been used.

IRV is used in national elections in several countries. In Australia, it is used to elect members of the federal House of Representatives,^[5] as well as the lower houses in most states, and in some local government elections. It is used to elect the president of India, the president of Ireland,^[6] and the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea,^[7] as well as to determine the Academy Award for Best Picture.^[8]