We advance Ranked Choice Voting in Minnesota

The January 6, 2021, attack on our nation’s Capital showed in stark relief that our democracy is fragile and in need of structural reform. FairVote Minnesota is working to strengthen our democracy through education and advocacy of Ranked Choice Voting and other democracy reforms at the local, state, and national levels to bring about a more inclusive, responsive and representative democracy.

Advocacy

We are working to allow local jurisdictions to adopt RCV if they wish

Ranked Choice Voting is a simple but powerful election reform that can strengthen our democracy when we need it most. We are working to pass RCV local option legislation, the Local Voices, Local Choices Act, that would allow local jurisdictions to adopt RCV for local elections if they wish. Our legislative work includes grassroots advocacy, resolutions of support, election reform town halls, legislative hearings and events, and an RCV candidate program for state legislative races.

We support local initiatives to adopt RCV

FairVote Minnesota supports local communities  who want to bring RCV to their communities. While only charter cities have the option to adopt RCV under current law, the local options measure in HF 89 would give all local jurisdictions (cities, counties and school districts) the opportunity to use RCV . It would also break down administrative barriers for charter cities that can adopt RCV but run into administrative barriers because they hold local elections  in even years with state and federal elections.  

In recent years, Bloomington and Minnetonka citizens defended their decision to adopt RCV for their municipal elections, and those cities will use continue to use RCV to elect their mayor and city council in the fall of 2025! Several other cities are exploring Ranked Choice Voting. To find out if your city is considering RCV or to get RCV going in your community, contact us at info@fairvotemn.org.

There are many ways to get involved in our advocacy work, including helping your city or local jurisdiction pass a resolution in support, signing our petition, writing to your local paper, and contacting your legislators.

Education: Rank Your Vote!

We educate and support candidates, elected officials, cities and voters in preparation for RCV elections

Whenever a Minnesota city has a Ranked Choice Voting election, we jump into action to help voters understand what they’ll see on their ballot and provide training and advice to campaigns that are running under RCV. We also provide regular updates and information packets to the local media. Visit RankYourVote.org for a full view of our services, materials and tools. See the Minnesota Dashboard for more information about our work with prior elections using RCV.

Outreach and Building the Movement for Democracy Reform

• Organizing local grassroots democracy reform volunteers
• Education and advocacy through digital and social media platforms
• Promoting op-eds and Letters to the Editor in community, statewide and national publications
• Providing interviews and education for the media. See our Media Toolkit.
• Making RCV presentations for business, civic, faith, and community organizations
• Providing testimony to the state legislature and to local charter commissions and city councils
• Hosting conferences and guest speakers
• Tabling at community events and festivals
• Educating political party activists at caucuses, conventions and party events
• Hosting or helping others host Rank Your Vote house parties
• Conducting ranked ballot elections at community events and festivals 
• Updating our members through newsletters and action alerts

Visit our volunteer page for our list of volunteer activities and join our movement for a stronger, more representative democracy! And if you're not already on our email list, please sign up here [insert link to join the movement] to stay up to date and get involved!

Events

See upcoming FairVote Minnesota events here.