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ELECTION RESULTS: Bloomington City Council will Continue to Use Ranked-Choice Voting
By Mike Hanks, Bloomington Sun Current
Voters were given a second chance to cast a ballot for or against the use of ranked-choice voting for Bloomington City Council elections and will continue to use the system in 2025.
Senator: RCV Promotes Equity, Bipartisanship & Civility
By Senator Alice Mann
Whether at the local or state level, we as a community face big challenges and decisions. In order to tackle these challenges successfully, a variety of voices and perspectives need to come together, be heard and problem solve with the common goal of making things better for everyone.
Our current, divisive politics often puts up barriers to accomplishing that. This is why I support ranked choice voting (RCV), which promotes equity and better representation, as well as bipartisanship and civility – exactly what we need so we can move forward together and solve problems.
Letter: RCV Ensures Winners Earn Majority Support
By Don Keysser
For me, the most compelling reason to support RCV is that it is a pathway to electing representatives who have the support of a majority of voters … Please join me in voting No on Repeal. It’s a vote for collaboration and consensus.
Letter: State Senator Supports Ranked-Choice Voting
By Senator Melissa H. Wiklund
I will be voting no on [repeal] because implementing ranked-choice voting in Bloomington has brought benefits that I believe we should keep in place.
Letter: Ranked-Choice Voting Provides Greater Freedom
By Thomas Starks
As a young voter, I support ranked-choice voting because it gives us more freedom to express our political preferences ... In contrast, Minnesota’s state and national elections still use a first-past-the-post system, where voters often feel forced to choose between the two major parties. While we’re free to vote for any candidate, in practice voting for someone outside the two main parties is seen as wasting your vote, forcing many to pick the ‘lesser evil.’ This reality is demoralizing. Why should we settle for candidates we don’t fully believe in?
Letter: Emphasize The Will of The Voters
By Dorette Kerian
Bloomington’s ranked-choice voting builds a stronger, more cohesive community. [It] gives us a better chance to vote into office a person who has the support of the community. The ranking process allows my vote to continue with others towards the candidate that more of us agree on.
Letter: Don't Be Confused by Tabulation Misdirection
By Marcia Wattson
“I’d like to set the record straight about some misinformation in Kathy Kranz’s Sept. 12 letter regarding ranked-choice voting. This misinformation is confusing voters and stoking distrust in our secure, fair and clean elections.” The bottom line:
* Every vote is counted. When a voter only marks a first choice and that candidate is eliminated, their vote remains with that candidate, just like when voting for a losing candidate in any election.
* Most voters ranked their ballots.
* The error rate in the RCV elections was extremely low, the valid ballot rate was 99.9%.
Letter: Bloomington Demonstrates Success of Ranked-Choice Voting
By Judy & Steve Elkins
Recently the Associated Press reported that Republican Party operatives are working to help liberal third party candidates gain access to the presidential ballot in key battleground states in a cynical effort to siphon votes away from Kamala Harris … This is why Republicans are opposed to ranked-choice voting: It is the antidote to fringe candidacies that siphon votes away from Democratic candidates.
Letter: Ranked Choice Voting Appeals to Both Sides
By Anita Smithson & Gary Vig
We are longtime supporters of ranked-choice voting. We are also longtime supporters of two different political parties. Why, you might ask, do we come together to support ranked-choice voting?
Letter: Give November Voters More Choices
By Chris Gabel
I have been an election judge in Bloomington for eight years, and have seen the difference in turnout between the years we had a primary for municipal elections (2017 and 2019) and the two years we have had ranked-choice voting (2021 and 2023).
Letter: Stay the Course, Bloomington
By Anita Smithson
The Sept. 16 Star Tribune article on the effort to repeal ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Bloomington missed the broader political context ... The repeal effort is part of a nationwide campaign to ban or roll back RCV.
Bloomington Uses Ranked-Choice Voting for City Races. Now Voters Will Decide Whether to Keep it.
By Liz Navratil, The Minnesota Star Tribune
Supporters of ranked-choice voting argue the system can help reduce acrimony in politics by giving candidates an incentive to reach out to more voters, including people who might have their opponents’ yard signs sitting outside. They say ranked-choice voting gives residents more choices, improves representation for women and people of color, and reduces overall election costs. "This is really about giving voters more choice and more power."
Letter: Ranked-Choice Voting is Beneficial to Candidates
By Gretchen Wronka
I like ranked-choice voting because my vote continues to count if my first-choice candidate is eliminated. It’s like in the past when I voted for my favorite candidate in a primary, and if that candidate didn't get enough votes to make it to the general election, I had no choice but to vote for my second-choice candidate in November. Ranked-choice voting allows me to do the same thing on one ballot in November. It’s much more efficient and saves me a trip to the polls.
Letter: Ranked-Choice Voting Generates Positive Feedback
By Kathy Crask
Bloomington voters approved ranked-choice voting in 2020, and we’ve used it twice to elect the mayor and city council. But a minority opposition continues to pressure a vote to ban it. I’ve done door knocking to educate voters on how it is done, why it is effective, and what benefits it has for Bloomington:
Letter: No Reason to Repeal Ranked-Choice Voting
By Laura Calbone
Just four years ago, Bloomington voters opted to adopt ranked-choice voting for electing our mayor and city council. We’ve had two successful elections using ranked-choice voting so far. Our voter turnout has increased, voters have more choices on their November ballot, and we’re saving approximately $100,000 in tax dollars each election cycle by eliminating the need for a low-turnout primary.
Ranked Choice Voting Mitigates True Threats to Democracy
The true threats to democracy are minority rule, voter suppression, and hyperpartisanship — all of which Ranked Choice Voting helps to mitigate by requiring majority winners, giving voters more choices, and incentivizing candidates to talk to more voters and earn second-choice votes from their opponents’ supporters.
Letter: Ranked-Choice Voting Makes Financial Sense
By Lynn Lundeberg
Ranked-choice voting opponents in Bloomington are collecting signatures to put a RCV repeal question on our ballot this November. I don’t think you should sign their petition. Why should Bloomington taxpayers go back to paying more than $100,000 for an August primary in which less than 10% of voters choose which two candidates will be on the November ballot?
Letter: Ranked-Choice Voting Should Be Option for All
By Sharon Billings
The Minnesota Legislature is currently considering a ranked-choice voting bill that would give all cities, counties and school districts the same right Bloomington has: to be able to consider using ranked-choice voting for their local elections. It only makes sense that all jurisdictions should have the same freedom to conduct their elections in the manner that works best for them.
Letter: Ranked Choice Voting is More Inclusive and Representative
By Dr. Michael Minta
As a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota, I have studied different voting systems and became interested in the potential of ranked choice voting (RCV) to encourage more candidates to run and more voters to participate, helping to ensure more representative outcomes.
Supreme Court Upholds Ruling on Ranked-Choice Voting
By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a Hennepin County District Court ruling prohibiting the placement of a Bloomington Charter amendment by residents seeking a second vote on ranked-choice voting.