Voters will have several choices to consider in this year’s mayoral election. So far, seven people have declared they are running for mayor in the most hotly contested race Minneapolis has seen in decades. Just as it did four years ago, Minneapolis will use ranked-choice voting to decide the winner. The November election is expected to draw far more voters and put the system to the test. Election judge Nasra Noor showed a voter how to use a ranked-choice ballot in 2009. It was the city’s first election using the new system, which is also called instant-runoff voting. It allows voters to choose up to three candidates for each office and rank them first, second and third. But not many people voted. Fewer than 46,000 ballots were cast that year. It was the lowest general election turnout the city had seen in decades — about half of what is normal for Minneapolis municipal elections.
FairVote Minnesota executive director Jeanne Massey expects far more people to participate this year, because of the wide-open mayoral race.
“It’s probably one of the biggest races ranked choice voting has seen in this country in terms of a competitive race,” Massey said.
Full Article: Minneapolis’ mayoral race puts test to ranked-choice voting system | Minnesota Public Radio News.