Media Memo: Ranked Choice Voting Elections in Five Minnesota Cities this FalL
MEMORANDUM
July 27, 2023
To: Media and Other Interested Parties
From: Jeanne Massey, FairVote MN Executive Director
Re: Ranked Choice Voting Elections in Five Minnesota Cities this Fall
This fall, five Minnesota cities –– Bloomington, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul –– will use Ranked Choice Voting for their municipal elections. These cities are among the more than 50 jurisdictions across the country that use Ranked Choice Voting, including the states of Maine and Alaska. Early voting begins September 22, and Election Day is November 7.
FairVote Minnesota, the leading Ranked Choice Voting organization in the state, will be educating voters, candidates, campaigns, and members of the media about Ranked Choice Voting to help ensure that RCV elections run smoothly and successfully. We want everyone to understand and take advantage of the power to RANK YOUR VOTE.
Ranked Choice Voting has been used in Minneapolis since 2009, St. Paul since 2011, St. Louis Park since 2019, and in Bloomington and Minnetonka beginning in 2021. Bloomington, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul hold municipal elections every two years. While Minneapolis typically holds regular municipal elections every four years, all city council seats will be up for election this year after ward redistricting.
We are also watching a likely ballot measure aimed at repealing Ranked Choice Voting in Minnetonka this fall. The proposed charter amendment was submitted July 7 and is currently under review by the city clerk to determine whether it contains the required number of signatures (1,512) and complies with other legal requirements. If the clerk determines that the petition meets all legal requirements, the Minnetonka City Council will set the language for the ballot question, and Minnetonka voters will simultaneously be using RCV to select their council members while also determining whether they want to continue using RCV for future elections.
With that likely measure on the ballot, it is critically important that the media share accurate educational information about Ranked Choice Voting. We hope this memorandum will be helpful.
FairVote Minnesota Education Effort
Voter education and outreach is crucial to implementing successful ranked-choice elections, particularly for new voters. FairVote Minnesota is conducting voter outreach and education at community and candidate events and through door knocking, phone banking, texting, and digital promotion, including educational ads targeted to communities for whom English is a second language.
FairVote Minnesota staff and volunteers have been out in force at community events across the five cities using RCV for local elections and will continue encouraging voters to rank their vote through November 7!
Candidate education
In addition to our ongoing voter education, FairVote Minnesota has partnered with Democracy Rising, a national RCV education program, to provide education and training for candidates running under RCV. You can see video summaries of that training in 2021 here: Day 1 Candidate Training Intensive and Day 2 Expert Panel Discussion. For the 2023 elections, FairVote Minnesota will offer two initial candidate training sessions that will be held on July 30 and 31. See fairvotemn.org/RCVTraining for details and registration. As a nonpartisan organization, FairVote Minnesota, is available to all candidates and campaigns to answer questions about Ranked Choice Voting. Our goal is to ensure that all candidates and their campaign teams in the five cities understand how to build winning coalitions under RCV.
Throughout the summer and fall, FairVote Minnesota will continue to collaborate with city election officials and our non-profit partners to educate voters about Ranked Choice Voting. We’ll be reaching out to as many Twin Cities voters as we possibly can at events, via phone banks and canvassing to make sure they understand RCV and are ready to rank their votes this fall.
You can also find more information on RankYourVote.org.
Please contact Jeanne Massey (jeanne.massey@fairvotemn.org) or Karl Landskoener (karl.landskroener@fairvotemn.org) if you have any questions or need additional information.
Background
How RCV works
Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference and ensures winners with the highest support possible in a single, decisive and cost-effective election. In ranked choice elections, voters rank as many or as few candidates as they like from their favorite to least favorite: first choice, second choice, third choice, etc.
In a single-seat election, if a candidate receives a majority (50% + 1) of first-choice rankings, that candidate wins. However, if no candidate receives a majority, then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and these ballots now count for those voters’ second choices. This process continues until one candidate reaches the winning threshold, or until two candidates remain and the candidate with the most votes wins. The winning candidate will always have a majority of votes cast in the final round. There are no multi-seat elections on the ballot this year.
Number of rankings on the ballot: For municipal elections this fall, Bloomington, Minneapolis, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park allow voters to rank up to three choices, while St. Paul allows voters to rank up to six choices.
Importance of ranking candidates: While voters can choose to rank just one candidate, they are encouraged to rank as many candidates as they prefer, up to the maximum allowed on their city’s ballot. The more a voter ranks, the more power their ballot has in deciding the outcome of the election:
If a voter's first choice candidate doesn’t have enough votes to win, their vote will continue to count for their second and subsequent choices, and they will still have a say in deciding the election.
Voting only for one candidate or the same candidate more than once, will not improve that candidate’s chances of winning.
If voters rank only one candidate, and that candidate is defeated in the first round of counting, they have lost their opportunity to weigh in on the remaining candidates.
There are no downsides to ranking candidates: Ranking a second, third, or later choice will never harm a voter’s favorite candidate. A voter’s second choice will count only if their first choice is eliminated. A voter's third choice will count if their first choice and second choices have been eliminated.
One election, not two: By allowing voters to rank candidates, RCV combines two rounds of voting — a primary and a general — into a single “instant runoff” election. Voters only have to make one trip to the polls, and candidates can focus on campaigning for one election instead of two. With one election in November, campaigns are more competitive, and voter turnout is higher, more representative, and more diverse.
No vote splitting: Multiple candidates appealing to the same community or similar bases of voters can run without worrying that they will split votes –– as long as like-minded voters rank candidates in order of preference. To avoid vote-splitting, candidates should actively encourage voters to rank. Voters can rank their favorite candidate number one — even if the candidate is new or relatively unknown — knowing that their second choice will count if their first-choice doesn’t have enough support to win and without fear of helping elect the candidate they like the least.
What it takes to win under RCV
The winning threshold
In a single-seat election, winning an RCV election requires that a candidate receive a majority (at least 50% +1) of continuing votes in the final round. If no candidate is the first choice of a majority, an “instant” runoff is triggered — instant meaning that voters do not need to return to the polls to determine the winner.
With RCV, every voter gets one vote, which transfers in the “instant” runoff process according to the voter’s preference. A voter’s ballot counts for their first choice as long the candidate is still in the race. If their top-ranked candidate is defeated, then their vote will count for their second choice.
Campaigning under RCV
Campaigning is different under RCV. While earning a voter’s number one ranking is the most important, second and later choices are essential for candidates to earn support in the runoff rounds and get over the winning threshold.
In a close RCV contest, a candidate needs to do well in first choices and then receive additional votes from being a second or third choice of voters who preferred defeated candidates. Accordingly, to win in competitive RCV races, candidates must reach out to various communities of voters to secure those rankings and build broad coalitions of support. The most successful RCV candidates focus on the issues and refrain from negative attacks on their opponents since they do not want to alienate their opponents’ supporters. While some candidates may default to the old way of campaigning and engage in mudslinging and personal attacks, those attacks often backfire as they will be less likely to earn second and third choice support of that candidate’s base voters. With increasing political division in the electorate, it is more important now than ever to reach as many voters as possible and build broad winning coalitions of support.
RCV resources and information
FairVote Minnesota
For more details on how RCV works see FairVote Minnesota’s educational website: RankYourVote.org.
Municipal resources
All five cities using RCV for their local elections this fall provide information for voters on their websites:
Bloomington: https://www.bloomingtonmn.gov/cl/ranked-choice-voting
Minneapolis: https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/ranked-choice-voting/
Minnetonka: https://www.minnetonkamn.gov/government/elections/ranked-choice-voting
St. Louis Park: https://www.stlouispark.org/government/elections/ranked-choice-voting
St. Paul: https://www.ramseycounty.us/residents/elections-voting/voters/prepare-vote/ranked-voting.
Minnesota’s experience with RCV
Minnesota’s experience with RCV has been a resounding success. Nearly 600,000 ranked choice ballots have been cast in Minnesota since 2009 when Minneapolis first began using the system. According to exit polls in Minnesota cities using RCV, voters consistently and overwhelmingly report that RCV creates more civil campaigns and is easy to use, liked, and preferred over the old voting system. Voter participation is higher in local elections using RCV by fostering more competitive elections with multiple candidates –– a key driver of voter turnout.
In the most recent mayoral race in Minneapolis in 2021:
73 percent of voters ranked their ballot – including overwhelming majorities across all incomes, ages, education levels and ethnicities
88 percent said that RCV was simple to use – again, including overwhelming majorities across all incomes, ages, education levels and ethnicities
The valid ballot rate was 99.99 percent
76% of voters said they like and want to continue using RCV
54% of voters turned out.
For more detail, see RCV in MN Cities Fact Sheet, 2021 RCV Election Overview, and RCV Experience in MN Cities Dashboard.
