The Saint Paul Better Ballot Campaign submitted its petition signatures
today.

See press release below and check out the video documenting the
IRV 'relay' to submit the petitions. Starring local current and former
elected officials and organizers, it is a must see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ezaRVA9KrQ

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For Immediate Release

Contact: Amy Brendmoen
June 4, 2008 651-492-8488

Instant Runoff Voting Petition Filed in St. Paul
7,168 Voters Sign to Seek Election Reform in November

The St. Paul Better Ballot Campaign today filed a petition seeking
reform to the current municipal election process. At least 7,168 voters
signed on in support of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for mayoral and
city council races. With 2,070 more signatures than required by law,
local volunteers expect that the petition will be certified and the
question will appear before voters in November.

“IRV does in one election what currently takes us two, and it assures
that the winner has received the approval of the majority of those
casting votes,” said campaign coordinator Ellen Brown. “Like people in
scores of cities across the nation, St. Paul residents are ready to
modernize the way we vote!”

For St. Paul municipal elections, IRV would replace the two-election
system where a poorly attended primary determines the two candidates
who advance to runoff in the general election. With IRV, voters instead
rank the candidates in order of preference on one ballot in a single
November general election.

With IRV, if any candidate gets over 50 percent in the first round,
they win. If no candidate receives over 50 percent in the first round,
an “instant runoff” is triggered. The candidate with the least first
rank votes is eliminated. Voting machines then look to the second rank
on the ballots of the eliminated candidate to specify their vote in the
runoff count. Once the losing candidate’s votes are re-distributed to
remaining candidates, the ballots are recounted. This re-distribution
and recount process continues until a candidate achieves a majority.

“With signature gathering off the ‘to-do” list, the team will shift
focus to an education and outreach campaign,” said Kathleen Murphy. “We
have learned in our conversations with local voters in the past year
that the more people know about IRV, the more they like it!”

In addition to the signatures of 7,168 local voters, IRV has garnered
cross-partisan endorsements from top ranking politicos in St. Paul’s
political parties, non-profits orgs and professional associations. On a
national level, BOTH Sen. Obama AND Sen. McCain have endorsed IRV.

For more information about how instant runoff voting works or to get
involved with the Better Ballot Campaign, visit
www.betterballotcampaign.org.

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