PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- A Rhode Island task force created to examine possible changes to the state's voting system is set to hold its first meeting.
The Voter Choice Study Commission is scheduled to meet Thursday at the State House.
The 16-member panel will study instant-runoff voting, in which voters rank candidates by preference. If no candidate wins a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those who ranked the eliminated candidate first will be counted based on their second-place candidate. The process continues until a candidate has a majority.
The process is intended to prevent runoff elections and allow voters to cast ballots without worrying that they are wasting their vote on unlikely candidates.
The commission is expected to report its findings next year.