How will IRV affect representation of ethnic minorities?
In a state with several ethnic pluralities and no majority, use of IRV will mean that an ethnic minority candidate who can win second-choice votes from other ethnic minorities will be able to win. In a polarized, biracial community, it is occasionally possible for a unified ethnic minority can elect a candidate from their group in a plurality election; this situation is unlikely with runoffs or IRV. There really is no single-winner method that is satisfactory in this case. Fortunately, this situation is rapidly approaching irrelevance. We expect that IRV will allow ethnic minority candidates to achieve victories with a majority mandate, without relying on the vagaries of vote splitting among opponents.
