Candidate Forums for City Council candidates and School Board candidates are now available online and on Bloomington TV (channels 14 or 859). They are a great opportunity for voters to get to know the candidates better and hear their answers to questions submitted by Bloomington voters.

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By Laura Calbone

Early voting for local elections in Bloomington starts this Friday, Sept. 17. Voters can request a mail-in ballot or vote early in-person at city hall 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, with additional hours the Saturday and Monday before Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2.

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Individual videos of City Council Candidates and School Board Candidates are now viewable online. First, see who’s on your ballot. Then, as you watch the City Council candidate videos, consider not just your first choice but also your second and third choices since you’ll be able to rank the candidates on your ballot. As you watch the School Board candidate videos, remember you can vote for up to four candidates using the traditional system (school board elections will not use Ranked Choice Voting).

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The Candidate Forums for City Council and School Board are this month. Submit your question(s) for the candidates by Sept. 6!

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Be part of the movement for meaningful election reform and gain valuable professional social media experience! Internships are available this summer and fall for high school and college students to leverage social media for voter outreach and education about Ranked Choice Voting.

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Be part of the movement for meaningful election reform and gain valuable experience! Internships are available this summer and fall for high school and college students to help educate Bloomington voters about using Ranked Choice Voting for the first time in the city council elections on November 2, 2021.

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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.

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Calling all creatives who love Ranked Choice Voting! This is your opportunity to shine and help advance RCV. And there are cash prizes. For the contest, create a video that answers the question: “What is a problem that Ranked Choice Voting has solved or could solve.”

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By Jeanne Massey, Executive Director of FairVote MN

Anti-democratic forces that have been gaining steam in recent years reached a boiling point in the 2020 election cycle, culminating in a full-blown crisis on Jan. 6. And while we have faced numerous challenges over the past year, this one is like none other because it is aimed squarely at democracy itself ... The good news in this dark time is that we have a reform, ranked-choice voting, that is a proven, powerful antidote to political extremism, and it has been introduced in the Minnesota Legislature this session.

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By Mike Hanks, Community Editor

As Bloomington prepares for its first city council election featuring ranked-choice voting, one of the city’s three state House representatives is continuing his push toward expanding the voting system throughout the state.

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By Erich Dettmann

Eliminating the primary and allowing all candidates on the ballot in November allows us to move away from the two-party polarization and explore more ideas for making our city work even better … In our country, we value competition as key to continuously improving the quality of goods and services. More competition in our politics will benefit all of us.

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As the Bloomington City Council finalizes the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) ordinance and decides how to conduct RCV elections, here are recommendations based on the experiences of other cities already using RCV.

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The City Council is seeking voter input about how many preferences they’d like to rank for city council elections. The Let’s Talk Bloomington RCV survey will close March 15.

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… Minnesota is home to a robust and diverse group of employers, large and small, including sixteen Fortune 500 companies. While we differ in size, we share the need for stability and predictability in our economic and political environment. Our planning horizons are longer term and we require certainty in order to make investments that will deliver the growth our shareholders and owners expect. As business leaders, we have viewed the increasing political polarization in our state and nation with growing concern … This is not good for business. We must take action to strengthen our democracy and mitigate the kind of extremism and disinformation that led to the attack.

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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.

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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.

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By Dave Updegraff

There are bills pending in St. Paul about ranked-choice voting. This, at the most fundamental level, is recognition that back here in the real world “second best” is not the same as “worst.” Contrary to what the sincere and passionate boosters of candidates might claim, things are generally not all or nothing. “All or-nothing” results in the kind of polarization we see.

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By Jen Vogt-Erickson

Have you ever wanted to vote for an independent candidate but felt like it was equivalent to throwing your vote away? Or that voting for your favorite candidate would inadvertently help a candidate whom you liked the least? It’s a conundrum we can work around with a pragmatic solution called ranked choice voting (RCV).

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By Lee Drutman

… unlike every other elected Republican up for reelection in 2022, Sen. Murkowski comes from a state that uses ranked-choice voting. That means she is in a rare position. She can leave the Republican Party without taking a big risk that she won’t be reelected. That’s because under ranked-choice voting, third-party or independent candidates can compete without being dismissed as spoilers.

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By Ali Chehem Ali

52.5% of Shakopee voted for a progressive candidate but because of the vote-splitting spoiler effect, Republican Erik Mortenson will represent our community in St. Paul … Exploitation of the spoiler effect to allow unrepresentative candidates to win without majority support was a full-fledged tactic of certain conservative political operatives this year.

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