By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
Bloomington will continue using ranked-choice voting for its city elections this fall, but voters will be limited to voting for three candidates per race as a result of an ordinance amendment approved by the Bloomington City Council. The amendment will also require write-in candidates seeking election to a council seat to register at the city clerk’s office at least seven days prior to the election.
By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
Residents seeking a second-chance to vote on Bloomington’s use of ranked-choice voting for its municipal elections were rejected for the second time in three weeks, this time in Hennepin County District Court … “Petitioners marketed the proposed charter amendment as both an attempt to discard ranked-choice voting and as a scheme to preclude ordinary reconsideration of the issue. The latter is ultimately an overstep,” according to Moore’s ruling.
By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
Residents seeking a second chance to vote on the use of ranked-choice voting in Bloomington’s municipal elections won’t get the opportunity to do so in November. A petition requesting another vote on a system that eliminates primary elections for Bloomington City Council races was deemed to be in violation of state law because of one caveat in the request: The petitioners wanted to set a higher bar for future approval of ranked-choice voting.
By Karen Nobbe Stephens
Back in 2020, I voted on the Bloomington ballot for ranked-choice voting after doing some research online and in the local newspapers about it. I thought it had several advantages over the existing plurality voting system we currently had: Its efficiency, its basic simplicity and the fact that this type of system promotes building broad majority coalitions by candidates rather than catering to smaller political bases that often represent more immoderate views.
By Robert Huber
I oppose the effort to repeal Bloomington’s ranked-choice voting ordinance. Bloomington voters approved the ordinance just two years ago, and it worked flawlessly in the first ranked-choice election last fall. Not only does it save taxpayers the cost of a primary election, but it encourages all candidates to appeal to a broad constituency, and leads to more civil elections. The issue was fully debated, and voters chose ranked-choice voting.
By Laura Calbone & Marcia Wattson
Thank you to every voter, candidate and election official who participated in Bloomington’s first City Council election using ranked-choice voting. We appreciate the many volunteers over the past four years who helped bring RCV to Bloomington and educate their neighbors about how to rank their ballots. We were excited to use RCV and thrilled that its benefits were realized.
By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
When the dust settled days after voting closed in Bloomington’s first City Council race using ranked-choice voting, the end result looked much like it did after the initial vote tally on Election Day. Voters in Bloomington were able to rank the candidates on their ballots this year, and incumbents Nathan Coulter and Patrick Martin were both winners. With no incumbent in District 3, Lona Dallessandro won the seat.
By Chris Gabel
Election Day is almost here. This year Bloomington is using ranked-choice voting for its city council elections. As an election judge for the past five years, I know how few people voted in the primary in the past. Ranked-choice voting combines the primary and general into one election day in November when more people turn out to vote. I look forward to helping voters at the polls as they cast their first ranked-choice ballots. A few things for voters to keep in mind:
By Steve Elkins, Rep. 49B
With this election, Bloomington will be helping to prove that ranked-choice voting is a practical and effective way to conduct elections in suburban cities, paving the way for the use of ranked-choice voting in school board elections, where it would be really helpful this year, and in legislative races and statewide elections under legislation which I have sponsored.
By Lynn Lundeberg and Pat Meyer
This summer, we volunteered to provide voter education on ranked-choice voting at Bloomington events and door knock in preparation for the Bloomington City Council election this November. While we are involved in a lot of volunteer activities, we are especially inspired and excited about the positive impact RCV can have on our city and its residents.
By Margaret Swanson
I am disappointed, though not surprised, the state legislature is considering bills that would impede the ease of voting. But I am shocked that Minnesota Senate leaders are pushing to remove ranked-choice voting from all municipal elections, including communities whose voters have already chosen it.
By Mike Hanks, Community Editor
Bloomington voters have approved the use of ranked-choice voting for municipal elections, and now it’s up to the City Council to define how those ballots will work. The council discussed questions that will need to be answered in preparation for an ordinance outlining the parameters of a ranked-choice system that will govern city elections beginning this November.
By Emily Bryant
Polarization is ubiquitous across the political landscape, and it’s tearing apart our nation, our states, our communities and even our families. While this affliction is driven by many factors, there is a remedy. Ranked-choice voting offers a uniquely powerful way to break the cycle of divisiveness, and I am so pleased to see the movement for ranked-choice voting growing locally and nationally.
By Laura Calbone & Marcia Wattson
We are thrilled that ranked-choice voting passed and that Bloomington voters will begin using it in mayoral and city council elections starting next year … It is now up to the Bloomington City Council to write an ordinance implementing the charter change. Then, it’s up to the Bloomington voters to show as much enthusiasm for choosing their local leaders as they do in electing their state and national representatives … We look forward to more competitive and robust city council elections next year as ranked-choice voting gets underway.
By Laura Calbone & Marcia Wattson
Like many people, we are ready for change. Political polarization is dividing our families and communities, and partisanship is preventing our elected officials from addressing the important issues of our time – whether it be health care, climate change, racism, a deadly pandemic or preserving democracy itself.
While elections for City Council and mayor are supposed to be nonpartisan, we see partisanship beginning to creep into our local politics. We don’t want our local government hampered by the partisanship and gridlock we see at the state and federal level. We want Bloomington voters to be more engaged and excited to vote in local elections. We want our elected leaders to reach out to and represent all their constituents. That is why we are working so hard to bring ranked-choice voting to Bloomington.
