UPTATED: IRV has been repealed in Burlington

UPDATE BELOW

The vote tally has yet to be certified, but unofficial results from yesterday's city election show that citizens voted to repeal IRV by 52% (3,972 to 3,669). Question $5 to repeal lost in all wards except 4 and 7. In Ward 6 it was pretty much a 50/50 split. Here's the breakdown by ward (thanks to Shay Totten):

Ward 1: 405 to keep, 264 to repeal
Ward 2: 428 to keep, 185 to repeal
Ward 3: 510 to keep, 292 to repeal
Ward 4: 1203 to repeal, 606 to keep
Ward 5: 793 to keep, 545 to repeal
Ward 6: 490 to keep, 477 to repeal
Ward 7: 1006 to repeal, 437 to keep

The winning margin is not overwhelming. In fact, it shows there are plenty of citizens who are still split about the way Burlington chooses its mayor. Clearly, the two groups outside Burlington that campaigned against Question #5 are embarrassed; the money they donated to their efforts didn't match up to the grassroots organisaton and enthusiasm of the Burlington citizens.

Shay interviewed Jason Lorber (50%matters) and Sandy Baird (Repeal IRV) for their analysis of the vote on Channel 17's election coverage.

The Lege in Montpelier will have to approve this vote since it is a Charter change.

UPDATE:

Side Note: En route to the Repeal IRV post-election gathering in the NNE, I received a phone call from VPIRG, one of the state organisations opposing Question #5. It was a solicitation phone call for another donation. (I've been a long-time supporter of their environmental activism.) But I thought it was strange that they were phoning on election night and told the nice woman just that. I also told her that I did not appreciate an outside group meddling with a local citizen initiative and that VPIRG should stick to their environmental activism, but not expect another annual contribution from me. "Would you like me to pass on that comment?" she asked. "Sure," I replied, "but I don't think it will do any good."