By Laura Calbone
On Sunday, dozens of Ranked Choice Voting supporters gathered at Unmapped Brewing in Minnetonka to celebrate the progress of RCV legislation, the Protect & Advance Democracy Act, and thank chief authors State Senator Kelly Morrison and State Representative Cedrick Frazier – all while ranking their favorite beers!
At the event, Senator Morrison spoke about the need for legislators to work together on solutions to pressing issues in our state, and how Ranked Choice Voting can help reduce gridlock and incentivize problem-solving. “There is so much energy to bring Ranked Choice Voting to Minnesota to decrease toxic politics and extremism so we can focus on policy solutions and problem solving. Thank you to everyone for showing up!”
Representative Frazier talked about how Ranked Choice Voting encourages candidates and legislators to reach out to all of their constituents, which helps ensure more voices are heard and different viewpoints are considered. “In order to have a multi-racial democracy that includes everyone, we need more inclusive and representative elections. Ranked Choice Voting means everyone gets a voice — and it means elected officials have to listen to those voices.”
State Senator Steve Cwodzinski and State Representatives Kristin Bahner and Larry Kraft also spoke in support of Ranked Choice Voting, noting how it gives voters greater choice and power and incentivizes civil campaigns.
FairVote Minnesota Executive Director Jeanne Massey provided an update on the Ranked Choice Voting bill, the Protect & Advance Democracy Act, which is working its way through both the Minnesota House and Senate. The bill allows more local jurisdictions (cities, counties and school boards) who conduct their elections in odd-years to adopt RCV if they wish. It also sets up a task force to make recommendations to the legislature on implementing RCV for state and federal elections and in local jurisdictions with even-year elections.
Attendees enjoyed beer flights and used an online ballot to rank the beers in their order of preference. Purgatory Pils, which had the most first-choice votes, ultimately won!
The event was co-sponsored by Clean Elections Minnesota, our partner for a stronger, more inclusive, civil and representative democracy. If you want to see RCV advance in Minnesota, contact your legislators to let them know you support the Protect & Advance Democracy Act!