A Note on Terminology

Instant runoff voting comes with a range of names, including “preferential voting” (as described in Australia and Robert’s Rules of Order), “alternative voting” or "the alternative vote" (United Kingdom), “contingent vote” (Sri Lanka, with the field immediately reduced to two candidates in the instant runoff), “supplementary vote “(London, where voters rank only two choices) and “ranked choice voting (San Francisco and Minnesota). “Single transferable vote” also describes it, although usually is applied in reference to elections with more than one representative that are designed to achieve proportional representation.