Ranked Choice Voting Archives - The Minnesota Sun

Election Integrity 2024: Wins and More Battles Ahead

November 11, 2024 Just the News

Following the relatively few election issues that occurred on Election Day, the election integrity movement has celebrated its wins and continues to look ahead to securing the nation’s future elections.

While the Republican National Committee and its allies monitored polls on Election Day and are still watching ballot counting in places like Arizona, election integrity groups are reviewing the relative success of election security and focusing on ensuring that election policies are implemented by Republican majorities starting next year.

Voters Decide Future of Ranked Choice Voting

November 7, 2024 The Daily Signal

Voters in Western states and the District of Columbia voted on some form of ranked choice voting or “jungle primaries” that includes ranking the final candidates in the general election.

Voters in Nevada, a battleground state in the presidential race, rejected Question 3, according to Ballotpedia. This was a ballot measure that would have moved the state to a “top five” primary if approved. That means up to five at-large primary candidates would compete in a ranked choice voting general election.

Ten States Ban Ranked-Choice Voting as Others Push for It in November Ballot Measures

June 10, 2024 Just the News

As the number of states banning ranked-choice voting (RCV) is increasing, some are facing ballot measures this November that would implement the voting system.

While 10 states have banned RCV and more may join them this November if voters vote for the ballot measures, six other states will have ballot measures to switch their elections to RCV.

Liberal Dark Money Pushes Ranked-Choice Voting as Campaign Gains Momentum Across U.S.

April 4, 2024 Just the News

As ranked-choice voting gains momentum across the U.S., the campaign supporting the system is funded by a few liberal dark money groups run by mega-donors who seek to replace the influence of political parties with their own, according to Honest Election Project Action, (HEPA) an election integrity advocate.

Ranked-Choice Voting Push Continues at Minnesota Capitol

March 16, 2024March 15, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

A pair of DFL lawmakers who fell short last year of gaining enough support in the legislature to turn Minnesota into a ranked-choice voting state aren’t giving up on their goal. They’ve just scaled back their efforts to more incremental steps.

On Wednesday, a committee in the state House approved a bill that would make it easier for cities across the state to implement ranked-choice voting as a method of electing local representation.

Ranked-Choice Voting Proves to Be Lightning Rod Issue in Several States

February 25, 2024 The Center Square

Bills to ban ranked-choice voting are causing passionate debate over a method to cast ballots that some say is fairer and some say is confusing and could lower voter turnout.

Ranked-choice voting allows people to rank the candidates, with “one” being their favorite. The votes are tallied in rounds. After the first round, the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated. The voter’s second preference is then added to the tally. The process continues until a winner is determined.

Election Integrity Watchdog Recommends 14 Reforms for States to Improve Election Security

February 2, 2024 Just the News

As the 2024 election cycle begins, the Honest Elections Project releases its report on 14 election reforms that states should make to protect the integrity of elections.

With the 2024 presidential primary elections underway, a bipartisan election integrity watchdog has released its updated report on election reforms that they say will help secure their elections. Some of these reforms have been considered or implemented in various states since the 2020 presidential election, during which there were numerous irregularities and inequities.

Ranked Choice Voting Disenfranchises Minorities, Though Favored by Left, Study Finds

January 18, 2024January 17, 2024 Minnesota Sun Staff

Ranked choice voting, in which voters rank candidates on a ballot rather than choose one, may harm black and Native American voters disproportionately, according to a new study by a Princeton University professor.

Minority candidates also may be undercut by ranked choice voting, said Nolan McCarty, a professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs and vice dean for academic assessment.

Minnesota Woman Leads Grassroots Effort to Repeal Ranked-Choice Voting

November 7, 2023November 7, 2023 Minnesota Sun Staff

A city in the west metro Twin Cities has become ground zero in a larger battle waged by well-funded progressive activists to turn Minnesota into a ranked-choice voting state. And Ellen Cousins might be the woman to stop FairVote MN in its tracks.

The Minnetonka resident has held several volunteer positions on city commissions and within her local school district over the last three decades. She’s now channeling her zeal for civics and community service into a grassroots movement to repeal ranked-choice voting as a method of electing city officials in Minnetonka. And the more voters Cousins and her volunteers reach as the Nov. 7 election draws near, the more they believe momentum is on their side.

Election Integrity Advocates Fight Against ‘Confusing’ Ranked-Choice Voting Pushed by Left

June 28, 2023 Just the News

As ranked-choice voting gains momentum, election integrity advocates are fighting back over what the call a “confusing” voting system that they say would give the left more power.

Ranked-choice voting is an election process being introduced across the country, amid pushback from some states, including efforts to ban it.

Legislature Passes Broad Bill Package Increasing State Government Operations by 40 Percent

May 22, 2023May 21, 2023 Admin

Is HF1830 a bill that funds state government operations? Or is it an “elections bill?”

It depends who you ask.

Rep. Ginny Klevorn, DFL-Plymouth, who carried the bill in the House, says it’s maybe a little bit of both.

New Study Identifies Eight Reforms that Took Florida’s Election Day from ‘Worst to First’

May 8, 2023 Just the News

Florida elections have come a long way since the “hanging chad” debacle of 2000. During the 2022 midterms, the state reported the results of all elections within two hours of polls closing, and a new report examines the election law changes that have been credited for the turnaround.

The 2000 presidential election between then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore was decided by the 25 electoral votes from Florida, which didn’t announce its results until five weeks after Election Day.

DFL Raises White Flag on Statewide Ranked Choice Voting Push this Session

April 11, 2023April 10, 2023 Admin

A well-funded push to make Minnesota a ranked choice voting state appears to have run out of steam — at least this session at the Minnesota Legislature.

On Monday, State Sen. Jim Carlson, DFL-Eagan, told his colleagues in the Senate Elections Committee that a bill introduced last month that would implement ranked choice voting for statewide and legislative races by 2026 “is much more complicated than we originally thought.”

University of Minnesota Report: Evidence Doesn’t Support Claims of Ranked Choice Voting Advocates

April 2, 2023April 1, 2023 Admin

There is little evidence to support the claims of ranked choice voting (RCV) advocates, according to a new report from the University of Minnesota.

Professor Larry Jacobs and PhD candidate Penny Thomas with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs said they have “carefully reviewed the track record” of RCV and it “fails to support four of the advocates’ promises for improvements over today’s system.”

DFLer Carrying Ranked Choice Voting Bill ‘Confident’ He’ll Get GOP Support, Despite Having None

March 21, 2023March 20, 2023 Admin

A Democrat lawmaker carrying a bill that would make Minnesota only the third state in the nation to adopt statewide ranked choice voting in its elections said he’s confident he will garner support from Republicans.

That’s despite the fact that Republicans in a House Elections Committee on Friday told Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, that his RCV bill has no support from among the 64 Republican members of the House of Representatives.

Minnesota Lawmakers Line Up to Support Ranked Choice Voting Bill

March 6, 2023March 5, 2023 Admin

Despite the fact that few people attended a ranked choice voting press conference at the Minnesota Capitol on Thursday, DFL legislators and paid RCV advocates expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of passing a bill that would implement their favored system of determining representation in the legislature and for statewide office.

State Sen. Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, and State Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, have introduced a bill they’re calling the “Protect and Advance Democracy Act” that would make Minnesota a ranked choice voting state by 2026.

Commentary: Mayor Derides Ranked-Choice Voting Pilot Program Failure as Know-it-All Legislators Seek to Expand the Program

March 6, 2023 Admin

A “guinea pig.” That is what Sandy, Utah Mayor Monica Zoltanski said that “ranked-choice voting” (RCV) made of her hometown. The town opted into Utah’s controversial RCV pilot program, but the experiment has not gone well. The cost-saving promised by proponents never materialized, but the real alarm bells should have sounded when the experiment produced voter confusion and voter disengagement.

Commentary: Ranked-Choice Voting Is Just Another Way of Letting Elites Tilt the System in Their Favor

December 19, 2022December 18, 2022 Admin

Americans want honest, straightforward and fair elections that they can trust. Regardless of whether candidates win or lose, voters deserve far better than the incompetence, mismanagement and multi-week delays in counting votes that we’re seeing in so many states today. So, at a time when trust in elections is at an all-time low, why are some establishment Republicans teaming up with Democrats to push a complex, confusing and painfully slow method of voting in America?

Minnesota Residents Sue City for Rejecting Ballot Measure to Repeal Ranked-Choice Voting

August 24, 2022August 23, 2022 Admin

Three residents of Bloomington are suing the city over its rejection of a ballot measure looking to repeal ranked-choice voting (RCV).

The lawsuit was filed last Thursday, according to a press release from the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC), the legal group representing the three residents. The lawsuit challenges the Bloomington City Council’s unanimous rejection of a charter amendment on the November ballot to overturn the 2020 implementation of RCV.

Bloomington Residents Look to Repeal Ranked-Choice Voting

July 8, 2022July 7, 2022 Minnesota Sun Staff

A group of Bloomington residents have filed a petition with the city clerk to initiate the process of repealing ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the city.

Voters in Minnesota’s fourth-largest city voted in favor of transitioning to the ranked-choice voting system in November 2020. The measure passed by two percentage points, but turnout was reportedly above 85%.

FEC Records Show Tight Financial Contest Between Democrat Incumbent and Republican Challenger in Race for Maine’s Second Congressional District

March 6, 2022March 5, 2022 Aaron Gulbransen

Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records show a tight financial contest between incumbent Democrat U.S. Representative Jared Golden and the nearest Republican challenger, former U.S. Representative Bruce Poliquin, in the race for Maine’s Second Congressional district.

As of the December 31, 2021 filing deadline, Golden has raised $2,136,842.68 for the 2022 election cycle and has $1,426,268.38 on hand. Republican challenger Poliquin has raised $1,482,065.91 and has $1,397,129.24 cash on hand in the bank. That’s a cash on hand edge for Golden of less than $30,000, a paltry sum in a highly competitive congressional race.

New York Mayor Race in Chaos, Thousands of Test Ballots Counted, Candidate Questions ‘Irregularities’

June 30, 2021July 4, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

The election for the next mayor of New York City is in a state of confusion after the city’s board of elections released a new tally late Tuesday in the Democratic primary, then abruptly removed the tabulations citing a “discrepancy” due to counting thousands of test ballots.

Analysis: Nine Things You Should Know About Ranked-Choice Voting

February 28, 2021February 27, 2021 Minnesota Sun Staff

Proponents of overhauling elections to allow voters to have a backup plan if their candidate doesn’t win went 1-1 at the state level in the 2020 election, but are looking to change how elections work in other states.

More than 30 bills on ranked-choice voting have been proposed in state legislatures across the country, according to Fair Vote, the nonprofit group that is promoting the system nationally.