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.

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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?

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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.

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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%.

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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.

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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?

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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).

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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.

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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:

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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By Laura Calbone & Marcia Wattson

Bloomington’s first election using ranked-choice voting was a huge success, which is why we’re more than a bit confused about why some residents are asking for another vote on it.

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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.

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