THE SAINT PAULBETTERBALLOTCAMPAIGNSALUTESCITY
COUNCIL DECISION ON INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING
The St. Paul Better
Ballot campaign, the campaign arm of FairVote Minnesota,
today saluted the 7-0 decision by the Saint Paul City Council to place the
issue of Instant Runoff Voting before the voters of Saint Paul this November.
“This is another
tremendous step forward in the effort to give people more and better choices on
Election Day,” stated Jeanne Massey, state Executive Director of FairVoteMN.
With the use of Instant Runoff Voting (also known as Ranked Choice Voting) in Minneapolis, and now the opportunity for the people of St. Paul to decide on Instant Runoff Voting, Minnesota is leading the
way in election reform.”
The resolution passed
by the Saint Paul City Council will be on the November 3rd ballot. Ellen
Brown, Chair of the Saint Paul Better Ballot Campaign credited leaders in the
City Council, the people of the city and the State Supreme Court with providing
the impetus for the City Council to act.
“We had tremendous
leadership from Councilman Carter and Councilman Stark who have seen the need
for this kind of election reform. We also had the support of over 7000 Saint Paul residents who
signed a petition to the City Council asking for the chance to decide about
Instant Runoff Voting. And with the recent Minnesota State Supreme Court
ruling that IRV is legal and constitutional, the question of IRV now is with
the people of the city.”
IRV ensures that no one
wins election without getting less than a majority of the vote. In the IRV
system, a voter simply ranks their preference for candidates: first
choice, second choice, third choice. The candidate with the least number
of votes is eliminated and that candidate’s second choice votes are
redistributed to remaining candidates according to the second choices on those
voters’ ballots. This process is repeated until one candidate receives a
majority of votes.
Councilman Melvin
Carter also saluted the City Council decision. "I'm absolutely thrilled
that Instant Runoff Voting is finally up to Saint Paul voters to decide. Today's
resolution is a very long time coming. It represents the culmination of
years of work, but we're not done – there remains much to do to ensure that IRV
wins in November. I am proud to play a small part in this movement to
enhance the democratic process in our city."
John Hottinger, Board
member of the Saint Paul Better Ballot campaign summed up the advantages of the
instant runoff system. “In recent Saint
Paul primaries, only 5% of eligible voters cast a
ballot, and this small minority determined which two candidates would be
presented in the general election for the various races. With IRV, all
candidates will be on the ballot in the single November election, giving more
choices to more voters. It’s a reform of our election system that is
needed and long overdue.”
IRV is currently used
in 8 cities across America
and in democracies around the world including Ireland
and Australia.
In Northern Ireland
this past month, 600,000 voters used this system to choose their
representatives to the European parliament. The same system will be used
for the first time this November in Minneapolis.
Information about the
Saint Paul Better Ballot Campaign can be found at
www.stpaul.betterballotcampaign.org. Information about FairVoteMN
can be found at www.FairVoteMn.org.
About FairVote Minnesota: FairVote Minnesota
works for better democracy through public education and advocating progressive
voting systems that lead to greater competitiveness, better representation and
more participation.