To the editor:
Election Day is almost here. This year Bloomington is using ranked-choice voting for its city council elections. As an election judge for the past five years, I know how few people voted in the primary in the past. Ranked-choice voting combines the primary and general into one election day in November when more people turn out to vote.
I look forward to helping voters at the polls as they cast their first ranked-choice ballots.
A few things for voters to keep in mind: You don’t have to rank all the candidates if you don’t want to. Rank candidates as long as you have a preference between the candidates. You can rank as few or as many as you like.
You do not need to rank the same candidate multiple times. This gives no advantage to that candidate.
If your first-choice candidate is eliminated, your vote will count for your second-choice candidate.
If you vote for only one candidate, and that candidate is eliminated, you have lost your opportunity to weigh in on the remaining candidates and your ballot won’t continue to the final round when the winner is decided.
School board elections don’t use ranked-choice voting, you can vote for up to four candidates for school board.
To preview your ballot, visit mnvotes.org. For information about the candidates, check out the candidate forums hosted by the Bloomington League of Women Voters and the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce on YouTube. For more details about ranked-choice voting, see rankyourvote.org.
The election judges are happy to answer your questions on Election Day or during in-person early voting at city hall. Be sure to vote on or before Nov. 2.