St. Paul mayoral candidate Elizabeth Dickinson discusses ranked-choice voting at a town hall meeting Wednesday. The debate over how St. Paul residents elect city leaders is heating up again. The city started using ranked-choice voting in 2011, forgoing primaries and putting all the candidates on the ballot to be ranked. Supporters say it has been a more inclusive way to elect city leaders and resulted in people with the broadest support winning. Opponents, who are beginning the push to return to the primary system, say it is confusing and has failed to produce the promised growth in voter turnout. The two sides squared off this week at a sparsely attended town hall forum. But behind the scenes, the debate had already begun. On Monday, Charter Commission Member Chuck Repke plans to propose a change to the city’s charter to eliminate the ranked-choice system. The proposal has already met resistance from City Council members.
Five St. Paul City Council members wrote a letter to the city’s Charter Commission in December saying they were concerned about efforts to repeal ranked-choice voting. They asked the commission to block any proposals that would do away with the process.
Ranked-choice voting “is good for our democracy. It is good for St. Paul. Please stand with us against special interests and in favor of giving all St. Paul voters the voice they deserve,” said the letter, signed by all the council members except Dan Bostrom and Chris Tolbert.
Mayoral candidates Dai Thao and Elizabeth Dickinson followed up on the City Council’s letter with another note to the Charter Commission this week, arguing that campaigns are less likely to engage in political attacks when there are more than two candidates on the ballot. Instead, they said, it leads to a greater focus on the issues and building coalitions.
Full Article: Debate over ranked-choice voting reignites in St. Paul – StarTribune.com.