Few would bet against a DFLer winning the Minneapolis mayor’s race in November. But with ranked-choice voting, the odds have improved some for independent candidate Cam Winton, who has referred to himself as a moderate Republican and whose platform pushes such conservative policies as improving the business climate and the efficiency of city services. The city’s ranked-choice voting uses a nonpartisan ballot ranking that allows a voter to choose a first, second, and third preference for mayor. As Community Voices contributor Jeffrey Peterson explained on MinnPost last month: “In a single-seat election, if no candidate receives a majority (50 percent plus one) of first choices, the least popular candidate is eliminated and his or her ballots get reallocated to remaining candidates based on their voters’ next choices. This process continues until one candidate earns a majority of support.”
“That’s an advantage to a Republican or independent,” observes Walter Rockenstein, the Republican City Council member who represented the city’s 11h Ward from 1974 to 1983 and now supports mayoral candidate Jackie Cherryhomes, a former City Council president. “It allows a voter to say, ‘I don’t have to, quote, throw away my vote away for an independent.’ ”
Former City Council Member Steve Minn, an independent, agrees, up to a point. “With instant runoff voting, the voters are really empowered to pick a candidate they like,” he said. “You can pick your candidate of choice and a safe candidate and not waste your vote.”
Full Article: Minneapolis ranked-choice voting could give independent candidates a new way to attract voters | MinnPost.