Mission

FairVote Minnesota works for better democracy through a unique focus on the voting system. We educate the public about the effect our voting system has on the quality of our democracy and about alternative voting systems that may improve public life.

In particular, we examine qualities such as competitiveness, majority rule, representation, and participation. We advocate voting systems with a demonstrated record of success in producing these qualities. Such systems include Instant Runoff Voting in single-winner elections and various forms of proportional representation in multi-winner elections for legislative bodies.

History

Conversations started over coffee in December 1996 among a group of politically diverse individuals who had a common disaffection for politics as usual. This group used the collaborative and democratic process of the study circle to examine alternative voting methods and concluded that this was a structural change that could make a fundamental difference in the quality of democracy. FairVote Minnesota was born as a grassroots network of about 20 active volunteers.

Major activities and accomplishments include:

• Cosponsored “Empowering the Voter,” a Midwest regional conference with national leaders in election reform held in November 1998 on the heels of Jesse Ventura’s third party upset victory, giving the conference significant news coverage.

• Researched, wrote, and published “No-Contest Elections,” a groundbreaking report on the lack of real contests in most state legislative races. It introduced “competitiveness” as a criterion in redistricting. The Ventura administration championed the concept. It appears the court panel that drew the 2002 district lines applied this criterion, as the state legislative district plan is more competitive than the 1990s plan.

• Addressed thousands across the metro area and parts of Greater Minnesota through our Speakers Bureau, featured presentations on public affairs cable TV and radio programs, and opinion articles in the Star Tribune, Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the Duluth News Tribune.

• Researched and wrote “Municipal Voting System Reform,” published in Bench & Bar of Minnesota (October 2002). It established the legal basis for adoption of alternative voting methods by home rule cities, an important tool for activists working to change their city’s voting methods.

• Led the effort at the state legislature to allow Roseville to use an alternative voting method known as “instant runoff voting” in a one-time pilot project for a special election. The legislation passed the Senate and received a floor vote in the House, advancing farther than previous political reform efforts that had much greater funding.

• Organized the grassroots response to the Help America Vote Act. The majority of public comments on the Minnesota HAVA plan called on the state to make sure new voting equipment is upgraded to process the ballot types used in advanced voting methods.

• Spurred charter amendment campaigns in Hopkins and Minneapolis.

• Lead partner of the successfull Minneapolis Better Ballot Campaign, providing consultation, research and education and support to the campaign. The campaign for Instant Runoff Voting in Minneapolis won by a 2 to 1 margin on November 7, 2006.

Staff

Executive Director

Jeanne Massey, Lead organizer, Minneapolis Better Ballot Campaign; Consultant, Urban and Social Services Planning; Past Board Chair, Resource Center of the Americas; Past Board Member, Kingfield Neighborhood Association; Past Member, I-35W Access Project Advisory Committee; Former Director, South Hennepin Regional Planning Agency.

Better Ballot Program Coordinator

Dakotah Johnson, Former lead volunteer intern for the 2006 Minneapolis Better Ballot Campaign; Former Field Canvass Trainer/Manager for Clean Water Action; Past intern at Grassroots Solutions; BA in Political Science from the University of Minnesota; Recent graduate of Camp Wellstone campaign training track.

Board of Directors

Chair

Tyrone Bujold, Retired attorney, Robins, Kaplan, Miller
& Ciresi; Minnesota Board of Examiners; Member, Minneapolis Charter
Commission and Past Member, Duluth and Plymouth Charter Commissions;
Past President, Friends of Ninos Adelante and current member of the
Basilica of St. Mary's Endowment & Development Committees, North
Star Lofts Board of Directors, Project Success and the Jeremiah Program.

Vice Chair

Carol Veldman Rudie, Self-Employed Writer/Lecturer; Vice
President, CRC Publications; Board of Trustees Member, Dordt College
(Sioux Falls, South Dakota); Past Board Member, Center for Public
Justice; Past Board Chair, Citizens for Educational Freedom; Past Board
Chair, Pathways International. Carol Rudie is politically independent.

Treasurer

Ellen Brown, Independent
consultant in strategic analysis and public policy and has extensive
background in both the private and public sectors, including past Owner
and President of Brown Partners, Inc.; Former Executive Director,
Greening the Great River Park;
Former Vice President, Control Data Corporation; and Assistant
Commissioner for Government and Community Relations, MN Department of
Transportation. Active volunteer, currently serving as Director
Emeritus of the Great River Greening; Reader for the MN State Services
for the Blind and board member of Northland College.
Past board member of Citizens League, Hmong-American Partnership, MN
Museum of Art, CommonBond and Responsible Credit Partnership.

Secretary

Ken Bearman, Editor/Writer for Minnesota Department of Human Services. Ken Bearman is politically independent.

Directors

Roann Cramer, Project manager and business analyst consultant for Bloomington-based Willow Group; Associate Chair, Senate District DFL 60; volunteer for
the 2006 Minneapolis
Better Ballot Campaign; worked on several candidate and issue campaigns.

Robin Garwood, City Council Aide; Former Steering Committee Member, Minneapolis/5th District Green Party.

Dag I. Knudsen, Licensed Professional Engineer; Fellow of
the Amercian Council of Engineering Companies; principal owner of Dag
Knudsen, Inc. a management consulting firm with an international client
base. Frequent speaker at national conferences, author of numerous
technical and business papers, active in technical associations.

Ron Lattin, Public Affairs Consultant. Director, Caux Round Table; Republican Party member.

Brandon Lacy Campos, Professional fundraiser for Camp Heartland; Liberty Tree Fellow; board member of Headwaters Foundation, MaMa mOsAiC Theater Collective, and the Minneapolis Latino Advisory Committee; professional performer and writer; former Urban Field Manager for MN Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson.

Sandy Sandell, Retired; Community Volunteer.

David Weinlick, Party Affairs Director, Minnesota DFL Party; Teacher/Education Consultant.

Advisory Council

• John Cairns, former Executive Director, Minnesota Business Parnership; former Minneapolis City Council member
• Dave Durenberger, former US Senator; Chair, National Institute of Health Policy; Advisory Board, National Popular Vote Plan
• Jim Gibson, Owner, Trail Blazer Campaign Services
• John Hottinger, formerMinnesota Senate Majority Leader
• Steve Kelley, former Minnesota Senator; Director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy- Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
• Curt Johnson, President, Citistates Group; former Chair, Metropolitan Council; former Executive Director, Citizens League
• Doug Johnson, Executive Director, Center for Victims of Torture
• Brian Melendez, Chair, DFL Party; Attorney, Faegre & Benson
• Ken Pentel, former Green Party candidate for Minnesota Governor
• Jon Pratt, Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
• Tony Solgard, former President, FairVote Minnesota
• Wy Spano, Director, University of Minnesota-Duluth Center for Advocacy and Political
  Leadership; Co-founder and editor, Politics in Minnesota
• Aaron Street, Co-Director, Minnesota Institute of Law and Politics
• David Schultz, Attorney, Professor, Hamline University
• Jane Tschida, Community leader, former President, Minnesota Governmental Relations Council; Board Member, CommonBond Communities
• Paul Tschida, Community leader; former Commissioner of Public Safety, University of Minnesota
• Jack Uldrich, Global futurist and author; Owner, Nano Veritas; former Deputy Director of the MN Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning, Governor Ventura's adminstration