Members of the Minneapolis City Council got scolded by a member of the Charter Commission as they prepared to change some of the rules on how ranked-choice voting will be administered in this fall’s election. “I would submit that 13 declared candidates for office, in an election year, five months prior to an election, have no business changing election laws,” said Devin Rice of the Charter Commission. He also was critical of an earlier council decision to reduce funds available for voter education, given the incidence of voter error in the 2009 election. Errors in using ranked-choice voting showed up on 6.5 percent of ballots cast, Rice said.
“There is no question that the data that was published, and still resides on your website, identifies a dramatic increase in error in low-income, high-minority precincts than in white, affluent precincts,” he said.
Council members met Monday as the Election Committee to consider three “enhancements” (PDF) to city election rules (PDF) that involve:
• Determining voter intent when a ballot has been wrongly marked.
• Reporting results on Election Night.
• And implementing a new rule that would require write-in candidates to register with the city elections clerk.
Full Article: Tweaking ranked-choice voting: Minneapolis considering three changes | MinnPost.
The Voting News
A News Service of the Verified Voting Foundation
