"I believe most of us are passionate about an open and fair democracy. Further, I believe an open and accessible democracy should be the preeminent concern of every elected official, because successful resolution of other issues is fundamentally dependent on fair elections.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is one election method that has become popular in Minnesota because it offers a number of advantages over our current system."

Instant Runoff Voting will save money, insure fairness

Rochester Post-Bulletin, December 4, 2009

Do you remember 1994?

The Bills lost their fourth consecutive Super Bowl, Jacksonville was awarded the 30th NFL Franchise. Tonya Harding was found guilty, Lorena Bobbitt was not, and OJ went for a drive in his Bronco.

In November of that year a majority of Minnesotan's re-elected Arne Carlson governor of Minnesota. That was the last time our governor received a majority of the vote.

We have seen millions spent on a recount to determine a Senate winner. In a Rochester election, we saw two school board seats handed to incumbents despite majority opposition.

The Rochester City Council has appointed officials because we don't want to be burdened with elections.

Independents struggle for legitimacy in a two-party system, while our citizens become cynical.

There are a number of excuses as to why we should not examine our system of democracy, but most of them are just that, excuses. Some have said that we have other issues; this is true. Some have said that we are tied to our current machine technology; also true. Some like a system that suppresses independents at behest of major political parties; they have a right to that opinion. Some repeatedly question the constitutionality of alternate systems, ignoring the fact that alternate systems stand up against legal challenges. Some say better systems can't work, even though we have seen otherwise.

At the end of the day, I believe most of us are passionate about an open and fair democracy. Further, I believe an open and accessible democracy should be the preeminent concern of every elected official, because successful resolution of other issues is fundamentally dependent on fair elections.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is one election method that has become popular in Minnesota because it offers a number of advantages over our current system.

Read full story.

Michael Wojcik is a member of the Rochester City Council.