Letter: RCV Ensures Winners Earn Majority Support

Please join me in voting “No” on the question about repealing ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Bloomington on this fall’s ballot. Ranked-choice voting allows (but does not require) voters to rank candidates according to how each candidate’s positions align with the voter’s viewpoints. RCV is increasingly being adopted across the United States as a way to combat polarization and elect representatives who seek common ground to best serve all of their constituents.

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. In the status quo/winner-take-all scenario still used in most elections, a candidate can win an election with far less than 50 percent of voter support. Case in point: Jesse Ventura ran as a Reform candidate for Minnesota governor in 1998. He ran against GOP candidate Norm Coleman and DFL candidate Skip Humphrey. Ventura won with just 37% of votes cast. In other words, 63% of voters did NOT vote for Ventura. If ranked-choice voting had been used, the election result may well have been different.

There are many resources to learn about ranked-choice voting. That said, here — in a nutshell — is how ranked-choice voting works. All first choice votes are tallied. If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, that candidate wins — just like in a traditional winner-takes-all election that we’re all used to. But if there is no majority winner after counting first choices, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as their top choice will have their next choice counted. This process continues until a candidate wins with more than 50% of votes.

Ranked-choice voting is an approach that makes good sense to me. Please join me in voting No on Repeal. It’s a vote for collaboration and consensus.

Don Keysser, Bloomington voter