In This Issue:

More Colleges, Universities Getting Schooled on the Benefits of RCV | Help Educate Party Activists about Why RCV is Needed Now | Duluth Council to Discuss Ranked Choice Voting | Squash Hotdish Wins Bake-off with RCV | Join Us in the May Day Parade and Festival | Henderson, N.C. Gives RCV a Huge Thumbs Up  | Join Us in the MayDay Parade and Festival | FairVote MN Welcomes Spano, Wahman to Board | Remember to Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter | Your Donation is Crucial  

“To me, the most important potential benefit from ranked choice voting is the profound shift it can make in the tone of our campaigns. Currently, a winning campaign strategy is most often based on driving up your opponent’s negatives, convincing uncommitted voters that your opponent is a bad person whom they should vote against. With IRV, however, it’s bad strategy to trash your opponents too severely since you might need their second place votes. Campaigns would necessarily shift from teaching voters to vote against the hated other side to teaching voters to vote for your candidate and his/her world view.” – Wy Spano, political analyst and new FairVote Minnesota board member

More Colleges and Universities Getting Schooled on the Benefits of RCV

A growing number of student groups at higher ed institutions across the nation are giving preferential voting the old college try – and many are seeing increased participation in elections. Preferential voting is currently used by more than 50 U.S. colleges and universities, with the total steadily increasing. This year’s Minnesota Student Association election used Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for the first time. With increased competition on the ballot, turnout exceeded that in last year’s election by more than four times. “Until this year, we haven’t had enough candidates to [use RCV], as [it] requires three or more candidates be on the ballot,” said MSA All Campus Elections Commission Adviser Ed Kim.

Other new Ranked Choice Voting converts include Brandeis, Colorado State, Columbia, Duke, North Carolina State and Regent University. The move to RCV at Duke allowed a later vote for student vice president, so that losing candidates for president could try again for the vice presidential seat. Colorado State University student government leaders embraced the change, predicting it would promote cleaner campaigns and welcoming an end to what’s become known as the “wasted-vote syndrome.”

American college students know that electoral reform, including Ranked Choice Voting, is an important step in the path to forming “a more perfect union.” We’re excited that student groups across the map are at the forefront of the movement for elections that are fairer, smarter, cleaner and more efficient. 

Help Educate Party Activists about Why RCV is Needed Now

If you’ve ever volunteered at a FairVote MN table, you already know how rewarding – and fun – it is to spend time with other smart, conscientious citizens while helping promote electoral reform. If you haven’t tried it yet, well . . . there’s never been a better time than now to lend a hand.

Once again, the Minnesota gubernatorial race – which hasn’t seen a majority winner since 1994 – illustrates precisely why we need Ranked Choice Voting. Both in this year’s DFL primary and in the general election, three-way-plus races and minority winners are the expected outcome. We can do better!

A few short hours of your time can make a significant, positive difference in the quality of our democracy, and we can guarantee you some engaging (even edifying) conversations to boot! FairVote Minnesota information booth volunteers are needed at the DFL state convention April 23 and 24 in Duluth (where RCV is on the resolutions ballot for re-adoption), at the Republican convention April 29-May 1 in Minneapolis, and at the IP convention May 8 at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. Click here to volunteer. 

Duluth Council to Discuss Ranked Choice Voting

The Duluth City Council plans to discuss next a month a proposal, sponsored by Council President Jeff Anderson, to put Ranked Choice Voting on the ballot this fall. If you live in Duluth, please contact your council members, let them know why you endorse RCV, and urge their support for a charter amendment on the use of RCV in municipal elections!  We'll keep you updated on new developments. Contact Bob Wahman at rwahman@duluthmn.com if you have any questions or wish to become involved.

Last month, former city councilor Donn Larson published a column, “The Time has come for Ranked Choice Voting,” in the Duluth News-Tribune championing the measure. “Ranked choice voting gives all contenders a better opportunity to raise the tone and substance of campaigns,” Larson wrote. “It upholds the principle of majority rule, giving voters a more satisfying role. It opens the way for new voices.”

Watch the Fairvote Minnesota website for a link to the soon-to-be-unveiled Duluth Better Ballot Campaign site. 

Squash Hotdish Wins H.O.T.D.I.S.H. Bakeoff with RCV

Duluth supporters of H.O.T.D.I.S.H. Militia got a tantalizing taste of Ranked Choice Voting last month at the H.O.T.D.I.S.H. Bakeoff. The winning recipe was Squash Hotdish, which led the first round of voting with 32 percent (to Sweet Potato Hotdish’s 29 percent, Soba Noodle Hotdish’s 21 percent, and Apple Crisp Hotdish’s 18 percent). Soba Noodles and Apple Crisp were eliminated in turn, and when their ballots were reassigned based on voters’ second choices, Squash emerged triumphant. Thanks to H.O.T.D.I.S.H. for a delicious opportunity to educate Duluth voters.   

Join Us in the MayDay Parade and Festival

Celebrate spring, soak up some sun, and help enhance democracy in Minnesota by joining FairVote Minnesota at the annual May Day Parade and Festival in Minneapolis on May 2. Click here or contact info@fairvotemn.org to join us in the parade or volunteer at our information booth. Or, stop by to get the latest scoop on RCV in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth and elsewhere in Minnesota.    

 Hendersonville, N.C. Gives RCV a Huge Thumbs-Up

While Ranked Choice Voting adversaries have spotlighted a few recent setbacks for reform, progress continues across the U.S. . . . and across the political spectrum. Earlier this month, in Utah’s Box Elder County, Republicans used Ranked Choice Voting at their county convention. And the Hendersonville (N.C.) City Council voted unanimously to continue using RCV. From 2007 through 2009, the city participated in a state pilot program using RCV with highly successful results; data collected as part of a North Carolina State University study during Hendersonville’s 2009 municipal election show that voters preferred instant run-off voting to traditional voting. 

FairVote MN Welcomes Wy Spano, Bob Wahman to Board

FairVote MN is honored and excited to welcome two new board members: Wy Spano and Bob Wahman. Wy Spano is a cofounder and longtime editor of the widely respected newsletter Politics in Minnesota and regular guest on public affairs program Almanac . He currently directs the Master of Advocacy and Political Leadership Program at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Spano frequently provides commentary and analysis in local, regional, and national media. Bob Wahman is a retired physician and medical director of St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, past board chair of the Duluth-Superior Symphony, a former board member of the Minnesota Medical Foundation, and a current member of the Depot Foundation.  He is co-chair of the Duluth Ranked Choice Voting Steering Committee.  Click here for a full list of current members on the Fairvote MN Board and Advisory Council. 

Remember to Follow FVM on Facebook, Twitter

Register your support for Ranked Choice Voting and receive frequent updates about the progress of electoral reform by following FVM on Facebook and Twitter. You can also repost RCV articles in your social and professional networks; please share with your friends the reasons why we need Ranked Choice Voting across Minnesota.

Another easy, effective way to advocate on RCV’s behalf is to write a letter to the editor of your community newspaper. We’ve posted a helpful list of bulleted talking points on the FairVote Minnesota website to help you make the compelling case for Ranked Choice Voting. 

Your Donation is Crucial to Our Continued Success

How can you positively affect – in one fell swoop – nearly every issue you care about? By making an urgently needed donation to FairVote Minnesota! From education to the environment to economic recovery, our electoral system touches virtually every important issue facing us. To make progress in other areas, fair and broadly representative elections are essential.

Momentum is in RCV’s favor – but FairVote Minnesota needs your contribution to help maintain it. We’ve succeeded in getting RCV in Minneapolis and St. Paul, and we’re on our way to Duluth where interest in RCV is strong. We need your donation in order to preserve our gains and move forward. Successful demonstrations in these cities will help pave the way for RCV in our state's high-stakes state and federal elections -- where we’ve unfortunately become accustomed to electing candidates who simply get the most votes, not necessarily those favored by the majority.

It’s been 16 years since Minnesotans have elected a majority winner to the governor’s office and the stage is being set for another plurality outcome in this year’s race. RCV can reverse this trend, returning Minnesota to its tradition of majority rule – without limiting choice -- and can help make our elections more competitive, substantive, participatory, and representative.

Your contribution of $50, $100, $200 – or whatever amount you can afford – can make a real difference!  Write a check, use your credit card, or make an online contribution at http://www.fairvotemn.org/contribute, but please help now.

We can only do this with your help. Thanks for all you do to advance electoral reform