Graphic of what an Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) ballot might look like n the 1950s and 1960s, the Philippines was essentially a two-party country. There was the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party. The vast majority of Filipino voters supported one or the other. Thus, a candidate who won the presidency did so with over 50 percent of the vote—the majority of voters having cast their ballot for him. The sole exception during this period was the 1957 election where Carlos P. Garcia became president with just 41 percent of the vote. This occurred because, aside from his main rival Jose Yulo who received 28 percent, a third candidate Manuel Manahan garnered 21 percent of votes cast. However, since 1986, there has been an explosion of political parties. Today, there are at least five major parties and dozens of minor ones that can easily form coalitions and challenge the major players. Due to the many candidates vying for the job, no recent president has gotten a majority mandate from voters. The highest percentage garnered was President Aquino's 42 percent during the 2010 elections. Many countries have solved this problem by having runoff voting when no candidate receives over 50 percent of the vote. Wikipedia defines it as a "two-round system, … used to elect a single winner, whereby only two candidates from the first round continue to the second round, where one candidate will win." Runoff voting gives voters a second chance to choose between the top two candidates for president—thus guaranteeing the winner is elected by a majority of voters. Unfortunately, holding runoff elections is more costly and time-consuming, so many countries use a method known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). This method is also known as Alternative Vote (AV), Preferential Voting (PV), or Ranked-choice Voting (RCV) in different regions of the globe. With IRV, only one election is held. However, the ballot is designed so that the voter can list his first, second, and third choice for president. The way this works is, when a voter's first choice is not one of the top two contenders, his ballot is looked at again to see who he listed for his second choice. If after this second round of counting, the difference in the number of votes separating the top two contenders falls below a predetermined threshold, a third round of counting is started. The remaining uncounted ballots are looked at again to see who is listed as the third choice. And with the aid of computers, the steps and counting rounds described above can be calculated almost instantaneously. Many countries use some form of the IRV method. Australia, India, Ireland, and various States in the U.S. use this method to elect presidents, prime ministers, legislators, or local officials. In the Philippines, the IRV method would make the most sense when voting for a president. That way, the winner receives a clear mandate from the majority of voters. And by the same token, the voters feel further enfranchised by having more of their votes counted. We believe IRV should be given serious consideration. Countries across the globe with elections where many candidates vie for a single office, some form of runoff election is likely used. It is time we Filipinos start adopting it as well. Published 8/6/2021