Frequently Asked Questions

General Questions
What is Ranked Choice Voting?
How does Ranked Choice Voting work?
Why should Bloomington adopt Ranked Choice Voting?
What is the process for adopting Ranked Choice Voting in Bloomington?
What is the cost of implementing Ranked Choice Voting?

Detailed Questions
Does Ranked Choice Voting require a majority to win?
Is it common for candidates to ultimately win who finished in second-place in the first round?
Is Ranked Choice Voting constitutional?

Voting Questions
How many preferences can I rank under Ranked Choice Voting?
Do voters have to rank all the candidates, even candidates they don't like?
If I rank a second and third choice, could it hurt my preferred candidate’s chances of winning?
What if I unknowingly make a mistake on my ballot? Will my vote be counted?
Does Ranked Choice Voting allow some voters to vote more than once?
Does the current voting equipment work for Ranked Choice Voting?

What is Ranked Choice Voting?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a method of voting that allows voters to rank multiple candidates in order of preference.

How does Ranked Choice Voting work?

With Ranked Choice Voting, voters cast a single ballot, ranking the candidates in their order of preference (first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on). Ballots are counted in rounds. If a candidate receives a majority (50%+1) of first-choice votes, that candidate wins. If no candidate has a majority of first choices then the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots are reassigned to the second choices on those ballots. This process continues until one candidate reaches a majority of the remaining ballots and wins. It works like a traditional two-round election, but occurs in a single, less expensive, higher turnout election. See details here.

Why should Bloomington adopt Ranked Choice Voting?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a better way to vote because it:

Empowers voters with more choice and more voice
Fosters diversity and inclusion
Ensures winners with broad support
Encourages positive campaigning
Saves tax dollars

Because RCV eliminates the need for the municipal primary, RCV will benefit Bloomington by saving tax dollars and saving voters the hassle of having to vote twice (once in the August primary and again in the November general election). Bloomington holds municipal elections (mayor and city council) during odd years when we don’t have federal or state elections.

The current two-step election process is also time consuming for staff, candidates, election judges, and voters. Further, very little media is focused on primaries, and candidates typically campaign only to the sliver of voters who attend them. Very few voters are aware of primaries and few show up. Turnout rates over the past four cycles have been:

Year | Primary | General

2013 | 4.7% | 25.8%
2015 | 4.9% | 14.4%
2017 | 6.8% | 25.1%
2019 | 11.9% | 31.7%

Potential candidates are more likely to run when they don’t face the two-step primary and general election process, and they know they’ll have more time to campaign for an election day with the greatest turnout.

More candidates leads to greater competition, which leads to more active campaigning and election awareness, which leads to greater voter turnout, and more engaged communities.

What is the process for adopting Ranked Choice Voting in Bloomington?

The Bloomington City Council voted 6-1 to include a question about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) on the November 2020 ballot. Bloomington voters voted on this question: “Should the Bloomington City Charter be amended to elect the Mayor and City Council members by the Ranked Choice Voting method?” Because 51% of those voting on this question voted YES, the City Charter was amended to elect the Mayor and City Council members by RCV starting in 2021. The City Council created ordinances for details such as requirements to become a candidate on the ballot and how many candidates voters can rank.

While school board elections are held at the same time as municipal elections, RCV is not currently available for school board, as those elections are governed by state law, not city charter.

What is the cost of implementing Ranked Choice Voting?

In Bloomington, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) will eliminate the municipal primary and all of the associated costs, about $101,000. According to the Assistant Manager, RCV will save Bloomington:

$75,000 in 2021 ($101,000 less $15,000 for voter information and education, $1,500 for reprogramming, and $10,000 for one-time training of election judges)
$101,500 each subsequent municipal election

Bloomington is in a good position to implement RCV cost-effectively:

Since Bloomington municipal elections are held in odd years when we don’t have federal or state elections, RCV will eliminate the cost of the primary altogether, saving the city that expense.
Bloomington already uses tabulators that can scan RCV ballots.
Minneapolis and St. Louis Park have a blueprint for implementing RCV and tabulating the results that Bloomington can use to avoid unnecessary startup costs.

An MIT Election Lab study showed that RCV implementation did not correlate with increased cost. It did show that cities that have RCV, which tend to be larger and more demographically diverse, invest more overall in their elections and voter education than cities that do not.

Does Ranked Choice Voting require a majority to win?

Yes. In a Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) election for a single race, it is always the case that the winner receives a majority of ballots cast (50%+1) in the final round.

Is it common for candidates to ultimately win who finished in second-place in the first round?

No. To date, of the 24 Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) elections in Minnesota in which winners were decided in a runoff (with second- or third-choice votes), the second-place finisher won in only two of those elections. This is similar to a second-place finisher in the primary winning the general election. It doesn’t happen often, but it can happen in highly competitive races.

Only 24% of all races using RCV in Minnesota have been decided with second or third-choice votes, and that outcome is accomplished in a single cost-effective, high-turnout election. For the vast majority of elections that are decided without the need for more than one round of tabulation, no money is wasted on an unnecessary primary.

Is Ranked Choice Voting constitutional?

Yes.

In 2009, the Minnesota State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is fully constitutional: “Every voter has the same opportunity to rank candidates when she casts her ballot, and in each round every voter's vote carries the same value.” Minnesota Voters Alliance v. FairVote Minnesota, June 11, 2009.
Federal courts have also ruled that RCV meets all tests under the U.S. Constitution.

How many preferences can I rank under Ranked Choice Voting?

The number of candidates a voter can rank in a Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) election differs in the communities using RCV depending on the capability of the voting equipment and software they use.

In Bloomington, voters will be able to rank all the candidates, up to a maximum of 6 rankings. In 2021, because no city council race has more than 3 or 4 candidates, voters are allowed 3 or 4 rankings.

In Minneapolis and St. Louis Park, the voting equipment to date has limited the ballot design to 3 rankings. In St. Paul, the equipment allows up to 6 rankings. In some jurisdictions across the country, the equipment can accommodate as many rankings as there are candidates.

In most races, 3 rankings is sufficient to express voters’ full range of preferences. Keep in mind that your first choice counts in each round of counting until that candidate is no longer in contention. Then your second choice counts. If your first choice ultimately is the winner, your back-up choices never come into play.

In large competitive races, like citywide multi-candidate mayoral races, voters often desire to rank more than 3 preferences, and it’s important to allow for this opportunity as it reduces the number of ballots that get exhausted before the final round of tabulation.

Research shows that providing up to 6 rankings is sufficient for voters to express their full preferences and minimize ballot exhaustion. For this reason, as technology improves and allows for a ballot design with more than 3 rankings, this should be done.

Minneapolis is exploring system upgrades this year (2021) that would not only allow the ballot to provide more than 3 rankings, but make the ballot design more efficient and user-friendly. Bloomington, Minnetonka and St. Louis Park will have the same opportunity to take advantage of these improvements.

Do voters have to rank all the candidates, even candidates they don't like?

No. You can rank as many, or as few, candidates as you like. The value of ranking is to ensure your ballot continues to count if your first choice is eliminated.

If I rank a second and third choice, could it hurt my preferred candidate’s chances of winning?

No. Your vote counts for your second choice only if your first choice is eliminated. Your vote counts for your third choice only if your first and second choices are eliminated.

What if I unknowingly make a mistake on my ballot? Will my vote be counted?

Whether using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) or the current system, mistakes are handled the same way. Just like now, if you make a mistake on your RCV ballot that would disqualify your ballot (i.e., voting for more than one candidate in the same column), the tabulator would reject your ballot and you would have an opportunity to correct it.

Does Ranked Choice Voting allow some voters to vote more than once?

No. With Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), you have the option to rank your choices, but your vote only counts for one candidate in the final round.

As the Minnesota Supreme Court case made clear: Every voter gets an equal vote. In each round of counting, your ballot counts as one vote for your highest-ranked candidate still in the running. If your candidate has been eliminated – just as in a traditional primary election – you need to settle for one of the remaining candidates. Your vote automatically counts for your next continuing candidate.

Does the current voting equipment work for Ranked Choice Voting?

Yes. The existing Bloomington voting equipment will be able to scan and count Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) ballots accurately and transparently, and notify voters of errors, just as it does now for all other elections. No upgrades to the equipment are needed. Candidates who receive a majority of first-choice rankings are declared winners on Election Night, as they are now. RCV results that are not decided by majority vote in the first round are tabulated in an exportable spreadsheet of cast ballots. The process is efficient, accurate and fully transparent. Starting in 2023, certified RCV software is planned to be available for even faster results.

Is Ranked Choice Voting confusing for voters?

No, based on extensive polling of voters who use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).

In elections with three or more candidates, voters simply rank their choices instead of voting for just one candidate. RCV makes voting simpler by asking voters to come out just once and eliminating the need to be “strategic” with their vote.

Just because it’s a change on the ballot doesn’t mean it’s difficult for voters to use. In fact, the valid ballot rate in the Minneapolis election in 2017 was 99.96%, demonstrating high levels of voter proficiency in ranking their ballots.

Evidence has shown time and time again that voters find RCV simple to use, and they like the greater choice and freedom of expression that they are given.

Over 100 million people use RCV across our country and around the world.
In the first highly competitive RCV mayoral race in Minneapolis in 2013, 88% of voters ranked their ballots.
In 2019 in St. Louis Park, where Edison Research polled voters on election day, 92% of polled voters said they found RCV simple to use, including 93% of people of color and 90% of those aged 55 and older.
These results are remarkably consistent with previous RCV election polls in Minneapolis and St. Paul across different levels of income, age and education.

Because other cities have already adopted RCV, it will be easier for Bloomington to re-apply the process and implement it efficiently and effectively.

Does Ranked Choice Voting lead to higher voter engagement and turnout?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) automatically increases voter participation by eliminating the low-turnout primary and allowing voters to consider the full slate of candidates in the general election when turnout is higher and more diverse. Having one decisive election in November encourages more candidates to engage with more voters over a longer period of time, and allows more people to fully participate in the entire election process.

Turnout in any election is determined by a variety of factors, but most importantly by the competitiveness of a race, media attention and candidate get-out-the-vote efforts. The Minnesota experience demonstrates that RCV fosters more competitive races and has helped to increase voter interest and turnout.

In 2019, when St. Louis Park first used RCV, voter turnout increased by nearly 50% in the November general election, over 2015, the last similar election with the Mayor and both at-large council seats on the ballot.
In 2017, turnout in Minneapolis was 43%, the highest in 20 years and a more than 32% increase over the relatively high turnout in 2013. A similar trend was seen in St. Paul and in other cities across the country with the implementation of RCV.

How does Ranked Choice Voting encourage positive campaigning and help mitigate the influence of money?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) encourages positive campaigning and helps reduce the influence of money in local campaigns.

In the 2013 Minneapolis mayoral race, the winning candidate was outspent 3-to-1 by her leading opponent. Similar disparities in campaign spending by candidates and their PACs have been seen in other races elsewhere in the United States. Why? Because most of the big money raised is used for negative TV ads or mailings. Attack ads and messaging are not only unhelpful in an RCV campaign, but can actually backfire. This was seen in the Ward 2 council race in St. Paul in 2015 and St. Paul mayoral race in 2017, in which Independent Expenditure organizations sent negative mailers against the winning candidate.

Negative campaigning may work under the traditional system, but is not a successful strategy under RCV.

RCV levels the playing field and gives a fighting chance to candidates who have good ideas, but not big bank accounts.

How did Ranked Choice Voting get started in Minnesota?

In 2004, the League of Women Voters Minnesota conducted an exhaustive, two-year study of voting systems and reached a consensus that endorsed Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) as an option for local and state elections in Minnesota. See the summary position on LWV-MN website.

In 2006, FairVote Minnesota, with the support of the League of Women Voters Minneapolis and former Minneapolis Mayor Don Frazer, led a grassroots campaign to adopt RCV in Minneapolis that was approved by a 2-to-1 margin at the ballot box. St. Paul voters adopted Ranked Choice Voting in 2009 following the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that RCV is constitutional.

What has been the experience of Minnesota cities that use Ranked Choice Voting?

More than 545,000 Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) ballots have been cast in Minnesota since 2009 when Minneapolis began using RCV. It is also used in St. Paul since 2011 and in St. Louis Park since 2019. Both Bloomington and Minnetonka will start using RCV in 2021.

By all measures, RCV has been a resounding success in all three cities that have used it already. Voter participation has increased, more candidates are offering voters more and diverse choices, and voters overwhelmingly say that RCV is easy to use and that they like it better than the old system. See more information regarding the results, turnout, voter opinions, and impact of RCV elections in Minnesota cities.

Where is Ranked Choice Voting used?

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been used in major democracies around the world in countries like Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand. In the U.S., it is used in several southern states (AL, AR, LA, MS, and SC) for military and overseas voters, and in nearly 20 cities in states across the country from CA to NM to UT to CO to MN to ME. It is slated for use in several other local jurisdictions, including New York City beginning in 2021.

Here in Minnesota, RCV is already used in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and St. Louis Park, and Minnetonka and Bloomington will start using it in 2021. RCV is being considered in a growing number of other cities, including Red Wing and Rochester.

Maine became the first state to use RCV in 2018 and used it for presidential and senate elections starting in 2020. Alaska voters passed RCV in November 2020 and will begin using it for future state and federal elections. Five states successfully used RCV in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

See full list of places that use RCV here.

Who supports Ranked Choice Voting?

Voters support Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). In Minneapolis, RCV passed 2:1 on the ballot, and in St. Paul by 52% of the voters. In November 2020, a majority of voters in both Minnetonka and Bloomington passed RCV on the ballot. In 2018, the St. Louis Park City Council adopted RCV by unanimous vote following a popular grassroots effort advocating for the change. RCV was adopted by 78% of voters in New York City in 2019.

RCV is also supported by a wide range of Minnesota political, business, community, and philanthropic leaders, media publications and civic organizations, including the League of Women Voters Minnesota and the DFL, Independent, Green, and Libertarian parties.

The Star Tribune, Sun Current and Sun Sailor and ECM papers, and Rochester Post Bulletin have editorialized in favor of RCV, as have a number of papers across the country, including the New York Times and Washington Post.

RCV is a nonpartisan election reform. Congressman Dean Phillips (D), Governor Tim Walz (D), former Senator Dave Durenberger (R), former Congressman Tim Penny (I), and former Governor Arne Carlson (R), are all strong RCV champions. Rep. Phillips recently introduced the Voters Choice Act to provide support to cities and states transitioning to RCV.

In 2019, former Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead and two dozen business and health care leaders, including Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Jonathan Weinhagen, Bill and Penny George, Marc Gorelick, Penny Wheeler, Kelly Doran, Peter Hutchinson and Karla Ekdahl, Ken Powell and Wendy Bennett, among others signed a letter of support for the bi-partisan RCV Local Options Bill introduced by Bloomington Steve Elkins (D) in the House and Scott Jensen (R) in the Senate.

Bloomington Representatives Elkins, Howard and Andrews, and Senator Franzen, are all strong RCV supporters and are co-sponsors of the Local Options Bill.

A growing number of national political scientists and business professors are championing RCV as a top reform to address our nation's growing polarization, including Stanford Professor Larry Diamond, award-winning author Lee Drutman, and Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, to name a few.

Who opposes Ranked Choice Voting?

The main group opposed to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in Minnesota is the Minnesota Voters Alliance, which challenged RCV with a lawsuit in 2009 and lost. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously that RCV is constitutional. It is the same group that led the unsuccessful pro-Voter ID push in Minnesota in 2011 and recently lost its case before the Minnesota Supreme Court to require public disclosure of voter information.

Senator Kiffmeyer, whose Elections Committee is leading an effort to preempt RCV in Minnesota, has served on the board of the Minnesota Voters Alliance. Former Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk is also a co-sponsor of the RCV pre-emption bill.

Here in Bloomington, the PAC opposing RCV is the Bloomington Patriots.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting disenfranchises voters.

No, it doesn’t. An “exhausted” ballot does not equal a disenfranchised voter. It simply means that a voter didn’t have a preference for any more candidates on the ballot after selecting their first or second preferences. A U.S. District Court recently ruled on this.

Opponents cite the case of a voter who chooses to rank fewer candidates than are available, ranking one candidate, for example, when they could rank two or three, and the candidate they rank is eliminated because they received the lowest number of votes. In this case, a voter is choosing to cast fewer preferences than are allowed in an election. This scenario is no different from our current system when someone votes in the primary for a candidate who doesn’t make it to the general election. That voter is still able to vote for a remaining candidate in the general election. If they decide they don't like the remaining candidates, it's their choice to not vote in the general. No voter is disenfranchised; to the contrary, the voter is given more power to rank candidates in order of their preference. If they choose to rank only some, that is their choice.

Because Bloomington adopted RCV, there will be one election in November, increasing the number of voters having a say in the entire slate of candidates - the opposite of disenfranchising voters.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting disadvantages communities of color and less affluent voters.

No, it does just the opposite. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been shown to enfranchise communities of color by eliminating low-turnout primary elections which are disproportionately attended by older, less diverse, and more affluent voters than the general election.

For example, in 2005 (before RCV was enacted), general election turnout in Minneapolis was nearly three times greater than primary turnout (8% compared to 21%) in Ward 5 which is predominately people of color compared to two times greater for the city overall (15% to 30%). RCV mitigates this inequity by holding one election in November, when turnout is higher and more diverse. In San Francisco, effective voter participation increased as much as 300% in traditionally low-turnout precincts.

RCV helps to increase and diversify the voters participating as well as the candidates running. Over time, RCV has proven to yield more elected officials from historically underrepresented communities. RCV allows candidates to run without fear of being eliminated in a low-turnout primary, as well as the opportunity to garner votes from voters who are no longer afraid of splitting or wasting their vote.

Hear voices from from communities of color, both candidates and voters, on how RCV helps expand electoral power in their communities in post-election video testimony.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting favors one party over another.

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) doesn’t favor any political party; it simply ensures that outcomes reflect the will of the majority of voters, regardless of party affiliation. That’s just good, smart democracy.

Furthermore, political leaders from all parties have endorsed RCV. It’s used for some local and statewide elections in Utah, a Republican state, and Maine, a Democratic state.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting favors incumbents or Ranked Choice Voting favors challengers.

We hear both arguments. A research paper from Utah State University examining the 2013 Minneapolis RCV election found that three of the nine incumbents seeking reelection lost their races. Similarly, in the St. Louis Park at-large City Council race last year, the incumbent came in third.

By eliminating the primary, RCV lowers barriers for entry and opens up the opportunity for new voices and candidates to enter the race and win. If the incumbent is strong, that candidate is unlikely to garner a strong challenger just like now. If the incumbent is not very strong, the race may draw challengers, and one of them may win. These political dynamics are the same under any voting system.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting means too many candidates will run.

No, not in most cases. In mayoral and council races, the number of candidates running in an open or competitive race is typically between three and five.

This issue is raised because of the large number of candidates on the 2013 ballot for Minneapolis mayor which was a result of the first competitive open mayoral race in 12 years coupled with no party endorsements and a very low filing fee for a city as large as Minneapolis. The city has since implemented a requirement to collect a minimum number of signatures or pay a higher filing fee. In 2017, the number of candidates was half that in 2013 and similar to a typical competitive primary for mayor in Minneapolis, the largest local election in Minnesota. This is not the case in any other city in Minnesota.

Myth: Ranked Choice Voting results in winners who are everyone's second choice.

This is not possible. Candidates must have strong first-choice support to move on to the next round. If a candidate gets few first choices, that candidate will be eliminated and not be able to return even if he was the second choice on many voters’ ballots.

Some cities have rejected Ranked Choice Voting. Why should we adopt it?

While some jurisdictions may have rejected or repealed Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) when anti-democratic forces were threatened by its success (among them Ann Arbor, Michigan, following the election of the city’s first African American mayor in 1975; Burlington, Vermont, following the election of a Reform Party candidate*; and Duluth, where the voters decided against RCV following a misinformation campaign led by opponents on the city council), momentum is on the side of RCV because it is a people-powered reform and has proven to be successful and popular with voters.

Some cities in Minnesota, including Brooklyn Park, Rochester, and Red Wing have explored RCV, but are unable to move ahead because of the lack of any state law that would expressly enable ranked elections on even-year ballots when state and federal elections are held. Rep. Steve Elkins’ RCV Local Options bill would allow cities with municipal elections in even years to implement RCV if they so choose.

As described above, Minnesota’s two largest cities and suburban St. Louis Park have successfully used RCV, and polling shows that voters find it easy to use and prefer it over the old system. Moreover, RCV use across the country is expanding with several cities adopting this pro-voter system every year, and some states (AK, ME, MA, ND) advancing ballot measures and legislation to use RCV in state elections.

* Update: In 2021, Burlington, Vermont, voters re-adopted RCV by a 2:1 margin.