No primary in Minneapolis as Ranked Choice Voting debuts

From the Minneapolis Labor Review, August 27, 2009

By Steve Share, Labor Review editor

MINNEAPOLIS — In this year’s municipal elections in Minneapolis, nobody is working to turn out voters for a September primary election: there will be no primary election.

Instead, voters will go to the polls just once this fall — Election Day, Tuesday, November 3 — and that day they will be asked to vote not just for the candidate of their choice, but to rank their first choice, second choice and third choice.

The new method of voting is called “Ranked Choice Voting.” Minneapolis voters approved the new system in a 2006 referendum and this fall’s elections will be the first time Ranked Choice Voting will be used in the city.

Proponents say Ranked Choice Voting improves the elections process because the primary system gave too much influence to the low number of voters who typically voted in primary elections.

Under Ranked Choice Voting, if no candidate receives a majority, a process counting voters’ second and third choices will determine the winner.

For more information, the City of Minneapolis elections department has established a website featuring questions and answers about Ranked Choice Voting, instructions about how to vote, and sample ballots: www.voteminneapolis.org.

For more information:
City of Minneapolis: www.VoteMinneapolis.org
FairVote Minnesota: www.fairvotemn.org

See also:
> New Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to vote for first, second, third choice
(Minneapolis Labor Review, 10-22-09)
> With new Ranked Choice Voting, voters can vote for first, second, third choice
(Minneapolis Labor Review, 9-24-09)

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