Statement of Ellen Brown

Campaign Coordinator for the Better Ballot Campaign

July 3, 2008

Wednesday's St. Paul City Council decision to put the question of Instant Runoff Voting to the voters sometime in the future came as a pleasant surprise to the Better Ballot Campaign (BBC). However, the action of the Council to block the citizen petition this year violates the law and is an affront to the right of citizens to initiate ballot measures; we will consider our obligations and options in the coming days.

While we are still considering our next move, we are thankful for the steadfast support of Councilmember Russ Stark, who opposed the council's effort to block IRV from this year's ballot, and we are pleased by an eleventh-hour action by Councilmember Melvin Carter. Carter amended an unacceptable second resolution, which offered to "consider" placing IRV on the ballot once there is a definitive court decision confirming it is constitutional. The amended resolution, which passed unanimously, binds the council to honor the IRV petition when a lawsuit pending in Minneapolis is favorably concluded, rather than to simply "consider it."

The Better Ballot Campaign fully expects the Council to follow through on its pledge to the voters and calls on the city government to be more transparent in its discussions and to honor the voice of its people. We thank the many supporters of Instant Runoff Voting whose energy and support in gathering the signatures and whose calls and e-mails to the Council and attendance at the meeting helped shape a better outcome.

Contact: Ellen Brown at ellen@betterballotcampaign.org

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