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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."
Ranked-Choice Voting's Time Has Come
By Mark Ritchie
It is time to move forward on ranked-choice voting to reduce polarization and extremism in our politics. I'm proud of Minnesota's national leadership when it comes to voting. We are the "North Star State" when it comes to advancing democracy, and ranked-choice voting will continue this leadership tradition. As a former secretary of state, I know we have the expertise needed to implement this promising reform in Minnesota.
Letter: Only Ranked-Choice Voting Could Save American Democracy Now
By Michael Osterholm & Andy Slavitt
We are facing increasing case numbers of COVID-19 in the Midwest and across this country, and this fall could be a worst-case scenario with the confluence of influenza and COVID-19. We have never needed an effective, functioning government more than we do now, but instead are seeing partisan bickering, dysfunction, and misinformation spreading like a virus itself … We see ranked-choice voting (RCV) as a key reform to redress the dysfunction in our current system and create a more representative government with leaders who want to focus on fixing problems rather than scoring partisan points.
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Counterpoint: Ranked-Choice Voting is Successful. No Wonder its Use is Expanding.
By Sen. Dave Durenberger, Rep. Steve Elkins, Mike Osterholm, Kim Nelson
Data in big cities and small reveal that the system is cost-effective, fair and easy to use. Join us in supporting it for Bloomington and Minnetonka.
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Opinion: Ranked Choice in The Presidential Primary? Not This Time, Obviously, But Next Time, Please
By US Rep. Dean Phillips, Penny and Bill George, Tom Horner, Peter Hutchinson and Karla Ekdahl
In a highly fractured primary field like the one we have now, there’s no way to know under the current system who most American voters support. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) would allow voters to rank their preferences rather than vote for just a single choice. If their first choice doesn’t make it through, their second choice counts. RCV eliminates vote-splitting and spoiler dynamics, incentivizes candidates to appeal beyond their base for second-choice votes, discourages harmful attacks against one another and allows the ultimate nominee to build a broad base of support among a majority (50% + 1) of voters.
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Opinion: Minnesotans, Don't Be the Spoilers in 2020
By Lori Sturdevant
With no real hope of winning, third-party presidential candidates serve as spoilers. They thwart majority rule, undermine the winner’s legitimacy and risk an undesirable outcome … “I’d advise people who don’t like the two-party system to put your efforts into structural reforms of the political process,” Horner said, mentioning ideas like ranked-choice voting, putting redistricting into nonpartisan hands and limiting big-money influence in campaigns. “Until we do those things, we won’t have an opportunity for a third party to succeed.”
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Opinion: Legislature should support ranked-choice voting bill
By Minnesota Business Leaders
We are writing to urge the Minnesota Legislature to support the Ranked-Choice Voting Local Options bill that is advancing at the Capitol this session. The bill would grant to statutory jurisdictions (cities, townships, school districts and counties) the same authority home-rule cities currently have to adopt ranked-choice voting if they wish.
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Editorial: Minnesota Legislature Shouldn't End Ranked-Choice Voting
By Editorial Board
Ranked-choice voting’s potency as a political reform tool is getting perverse affirmation at the Legislature this session. Legislators loyal to the status quo are behind a move to end RCV in St. Paul and Minneapolis, the only Minnesota cities that use the vote-by-ranking system, and to ban its adoption elsewhere … The [RCV] opponents evidently don’t like what this Editorial Board has seen for some time: RCV has the potential to shift political power away from partisan zealots and aid the formation of centrist consensus.
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Counterpoint: Ranked-Voting Promotes Issue-Based, Inclusive Campaigns
By Jeff Hayden , Peggy Flanagan and Javier Morillo
Democracy is in peril. From a system that thwarts the popular vote, to unprecedented levels of political polarization, to growing cynicism and apathy, to big money and special interests, to calculated attempts to suppress the vote, the whole notion of democracy as we know it is at risk … RCV not only is proven to help mitigate many problems threatening our democracy, but it’s also a system that’s widely popular among seniors, people of color and those who speak English as a second language.