RCV in Minnesota

Two Decades of Progress Made & Lessons Learned

Minnesota’s RCV Experience

RCV is used in Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park, Bloomington and Minnetonka voters, most recently in 2025’s for mayoral and city council elections. Voters in Minnesota overwhelmingly report that RCV is easy to use and they prefer it over the old system.

While a growing number of Minnesota communities would like to adopt RCV for local elections, only charter cities with odd year elections—a small percentage of cities in Minnesota—are able to do so. We need to pass the local options measure in the state legislature to restore local control and allow all local jurisdictions to adopt RCV if they wish.

Where RCV is Used Now

American States

RCV is used for for state and federal elections in Alaska, and Maine uses RCV in statewide primary and in federal elections, including presidential contests. Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Springfield, IL use RCV for military and overseas voters.

American Cities

Nearly 40 cities use RCV to elect mayors, city councils, school boards, and more. Cities range from large (New York, NY; San Francisco, CA) to small (Vineyard, UT; Eastpointe, MI). Five cities in Minnesota—St. Paul, Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Minnetonka, and Bloomington—used RCV for their mayoral and council races in 2025.

Political Parties

Democratic and Republican parties routinely use RCV in leadership elections and nominating contests, but 2020 saw both parties make great strides with RCV. Five states ranked their vote in presidential primaries or caucuses in 2020, and the Indiana Republican party and the Utah Democratic and Republican parties used RCV for their virtual conventions. The Minnesota DFL also used RCV for endorsements at its virtual state convention.

Ranked choice voting is backed by the Minnesota DFL and is a major platform plank of the Green, Independence, and Libertarian Parties of Minnesota. We urge all political parties to embrace RCV for their endorsements, party elections and nominating contests — the most democratic and efficient way to conduct those elections.