Senate DFLers held a press conference Thursday to address the necessity of ranked choice voting legislation within the state of Minnesota. Ranked choice voting would allow Minnesota to reform and streamline our election system and ensure the will of the people prevails.
The current system relies on receiving a plurality of the vote, which diminishes the ability for more diverse candidates and voices to be heard within the state. It also ends with many voters not being able to vote for who they truly support in fear of spoiling their second-choice candidate. Ranked choice voting will allow Minnesotans to have greater confidence within their election process and will be better representative of the majority of voters.
Ranked choice voting has been enacted in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Saint Louis Park, and Bloomington and has shown to be widely successful. Additionally, states and local communities across the country are moving adopt this system within their election process. Ranked choice voting has been shown to be an easy and cost-effective option for local and state governments to implement and has enabled greater community involvement and bipartisanship.
Ranked choice voting implementation legislation has been introduced this year by Senate DFLers, but none have received a hearing. Senate Republicans on the other hand have included provisions within the State Government omnibus bill that would prohibit communities from enacting ranked choice voting in their communities. Senate DFLers strongly oppose harmful preemption language and will continue to support the expansion of ranked choice voting in Minnesota. (SF 218, SF1651, SF2159)
