Hard Fought Battle Achieves Election Reform, Instant Runoff Voting

Press Release:

FairVote Minnesota Applauds Supreme Court Decision on Ranked Choice Voting

MINNEAPOLIS –– Jeanne Massey, executive director of FairVote Minnesota, applauded the Minnesota Supreme Court decision handed down today that upholds the constitutionality of Minneapolis’ ranked choice voting (RCV) law.

“Today, in a unanimous opinion, the Minnesota Supreme Court blazed a path that every community in our state can follow toward better elections and a stronger democracy,” Massey said. “The Court’s decision is a resounding endorsement of ranked choice voting. It gives a bright, green light for Minneapolis to implement RCV for this year’s elections and for other communities around the state – Saint Paul, Duluth and others – to move ahead as well.”

In its ruling, the Court explained that the RCV system satisfies constitutional requirements because all votes are treated equally: “[e]very voter has the same opportunity to rank candidates when she casts her ballot, and in each round every voter’s vote carries the same value.” The Court also found that there was “no indication, much less proof” that RCV would impose a burden on the right to vote. Finally, Chief Justice Magnuson stressed in the opinion, “[t]he voters of Minneapolis chose to adopt the IRV method.” Under these circumstances, the Court held that it would not interfere with that choice.

It is expected that today’s ruling will set the stage for other communities to move ahead on RCV initiatives. The Saint Paul City Council, for example, voted in 2008 to uphold a citizen’s petition to place RCV on the ballot in 2009 upon resolution of the law suit in Minneapolis. In Duluth, there is a strong and active citizen’s effort to put RCV on the ballot for municipal elections next year.

FairVote Minnesota attorneys James Dorsey and Nicole Moen praised the Court’s decision: “The Court carefully examined each of the plaintiffs’ constitutional arguments and rejected all of them. The Court also noted that RCV promotes many legitimate state interests, such as increasing voter turn-out and decreasing election costs.”

Dorsey and Moen also dismissed the impact of the plaintiffs’ intention to appeal today’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court: “The Minneapolis City Attorney has already determined that a ruling from the Minnesota Supreme Court requires the city to implement RCV for this election cycle. The Court’s decision rests on a thoughtful and solid analysis of Minnesota and United States Supreme Court precedent. If the plaintiffs pursue their claims in federal court, the outcome will likely be the same.”

Today’s decision is consistent with the outcomes of similar cases in other states, most notably Johnson v City of New York (1937) Moore v Election Commissioners of Cambridge (1941) and Stephenson v Ann Arbor Bd. of Canvassers (1975). In each case, RCV was upheld under the state constitution and/or election laws.

In 2006, Minneapolis voters approved the use of RCV by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, 65 percent to 35 percent. The case, Minnesota Voters Alliance v City of Minneapolis (27-cv-08-15), was filed in December 2007 to challenge implementation of the voting method, but was rejected last January by Hennepin County District Judge George McGunnigle.

RCV is a tested, accepted and implementable system by which voters rank candidates in order of preference, ensuring majority winners in single-winner races where there are more than two candidates on the ballot. Under RCV, voters cast their vote for their favorite candidate knowing that if he or she doesn’t gather enough votes to be one of the top two finishers, their votes will count toward their second choice. Votes cast for the least popular candidate are not "wasted", but rather redistributed to more popular candidates, based on the voters' second choices, until one candidate emerges with a majority of votes. In multi-winner elections, like the Minneapolis Park Board RCV ensures majority rule while empowering small groups of voters with greater opportunity to elect a candidate that represents them.

RCV is already in use in more than a half a dozen jurisdictions around the United States and in democracies such as Ireland and Australia.

Eight jurisdictions in six states – California, North Carolina, Maryland, Vermont, Colorado and Washington – currently use RCV voting methods without legal challenge. Nearly a dozen other cities are slated to use RCV in the near future; nowhere has RCV been legally challenged.

FairVote Minnesota was founded in 1996 to work for better democracy through public education and advocating progressive voting systems that lead to greater competitiveness, better representation and more participation.

Instant Runoff Decision Upheld in Minneapolis

The challenge to a 2006 citizen vote to institute Instant Runnoff Voting in Minneapolis has been overturned. Hennepin County District Judge McGunnigle wrote, “The City of Minneapolis has an important interest in respecting the democratic process, and the citizens of Minneapolis democratically voted for IRV by referendum” and concluded that the plaintiffs “have failed to demonstrate that IRV is either unconstitutional or contrary to public policy."

FairVote Minnesota attorney James Dorsey said, “The plaintiffs argued everything from denial of equal protection and infringement of the right of association under both the federal and the state constitutions to claims of failure to comply with arcane requirements of the state's municipal election laws."

In use in more than a half dozen jurisdictions around the country, IRV is a tested system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.), ensuring majority winners in single-winner races where there are more than two candidates on the ballot. IRV is seen as a major step to opening up the political dialogue to more diverse voices because voters feel greater permission to vote for an underdog candidate they prefer if they know their vote won't play against their preferred major party candidate.

Ralph Nader's 2008 Vice-Presidential running mate, Matt Gonzalez, made IRV a central part of their campaign platform this last year. Vermont Governor Howard Dean came out early in support of IRV, saying it solves a lot of problems, between the costs of a second election and the spoiler question.

Minnesota's Democratic Party Affiliate Adopts IRV

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Part (DFL) has adopted Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), a method of ranking your first, second and third choices for candidate, rather than using a winner-take-all system.

Whether from increased pressure by third parties or just plain fair play, several state parties have pushed for IRV. Minnesota is the third state Democratic party to adopt IRV. The Utah Republican Party sues IRV for state convention elections. IRV is also a core platform of the the Green Party of the United States and is practiced in municpal elections in various parts of the country. DNC leader Howard Dean has publicly encouraged IRV in his state for over a year and the hope is that encouragement will spread.

The Minnesota DFL joins a broad and rapidly growing coalition of organizations for IRV, including the League of Women Voters, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Star Tribune, TakeAction Minnesota, Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, Citizens for Election Integrity and The White House Project.

I support ranked choice voting, including instant-runoff voting, because it is the fairest and most efficient way of holding elections in a diverse society. Ranked-choice voting's fairness -- to the individual voter, to each group of voters, and to the candidates -- surpasses any other voting system. Instant-runoff voting ensures that our elected leaders get elected with support from a clear majority, not just a plurality, and it removes any incentive for strategic misrepresentation so that the voters can vote their true preferences. A ranked-choice system promotes diversity, and fully satisfies the right to an effective vote.

- DFL Chair Brian Melendez

Howard Dean Comments Positively on IRV

Fair Vote Presents this quick clip of Howard Dean commenting on Instant Runoff Voting

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is a ranked ballot method of voting that results in a winner chosen by a majority of the voters. The voters rank the candidates in order
of preference. Each voter has one vote which counts for the highest preferred
candidate that can use it.