What a year –thanks to you!!

2021 continued the tremendous momentum for Ranked Choice Voting in Minnesota. Read our year-end recap below for all the success YOU made possible and for steps you can take TODAY to push RCV forward in 2022.

2021 Recap

The year started off with a bang as the legislative session opened on January 5, 2021!

Groundbreaking 2021 Legislative Session

In the 2021 legislative session, Rep. Steve Elkins, along with Reps. Cedrick Frazier and Esther Agbaje introduced RCV for MN bills in the House, and Senator Kent Eken, along with Sens. Lindsey Port and Mary Kunesh introduced its companion bill with colleagues in the Senate. The bill would implement RCV in primary and general elections for state and federal offices and would allow local jurisdictions to adopt RCV if they choose. This legislation was the first time RCV was introduced for statewide use! If adopted, Minnesota would be the first state in the nation to implement RCV for state and federal elections through legislative action.

RCV for MN Bill Informational Hearing in the House

Despite announced restrictions on legislation that would be considered due to the pandemic and budget cycle, legislative champions introduced three RCV bills in both bodies (with the most coauthor signatures to date) and obtained an informational hearing on the RCV for Minnesota bill, HF 89, in the House Local Government Committee on March 17. 272 letters of testimony in support of the bill were submitted at this hearing, including from Dr. Mike Osterholm, Minnesota business leaders, local officials, RCV advocates in Utah and Maine, and from dozens of Minnesota voters. See the hearing highlights.

RCV Ban Hearing and Floor Effort in the Senate

We also pushed back an anti-democratic effort in the MN Senate to ban RCV in all localities, including cities like Bloomington and Minneapolis that adopted RCV by ballot measure. 50 letters of testimony were submitted against the bill. When the bill was heard on the floor as part of the Senate Omnibus bill, chief author Senator Kent Eken introduced an amendment to remove the measure. He, along with several other advocates in the Senate – including, Mary Kunesh, Melisa Franzen (current Senate Minority Leader), Aric Putnam, Jim Carlson, Greg Clausen, and John Marty – took the opportunity to testify on behalf of the amendment and share with their colleagues not only why the RCV ban should be defeated, but why RCV and local control are important and should be supported. See highlights of the hearing here. While the RCV for MN bill authors could not secure a hearing in the senate, these democracy champions, led by Sen. Eken, were undeterred and hosted a pro-RCV bill briefing. See briefing highlights.

No ban bill was heard in the House, and the Senate measure died in conference committee.

We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to these democracy champions and all of the RCV supporters in the House and Senate. Help us begin the new year strong by wishing happy holidays to our legislators, thanking our democracy champions who support RCV and urging those not yet on board to support the RCV for MN bill next session!

Contact your legislators

These emails and contacts make a huge difference. We defeated the ban, and continued to add legislative supporters. Thanks to all of you who contacted your legislators last session; the progress we’ve made would not have been possible without you.

Galvanizing Events on Democracy Reform

Despite the limitations of organizing during a pandemic, we were able to host several events that connected voters, advocates, activists, academics and elected officials on how to strengthen our democracy through electoral reform.

In response to the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, we organized a Zoom event, Democracy in Crisis, with Congresswoman Angie Craig and Lee Drutman, moderated by Representative Cedrick Frazier. Our guests framed the tragedy we had all witnessed as a breakdown of our democratic institutions and underscored the need for Ranked Choice Voting as a core solution.

To illustrate how Ranked Choice Voting yields more just, inclusive, representative governance, we hosted three events with legislative and community allies:

Lastly, in order to provide a platform for our legislative champions to talk about RCV with constituents, we hosted a 5-part statewide series of Democracy Town Halls. Each event was framed by keynotes from special guests who support democracy reform, including Attorney General Keith Ellison, Congresswoman Angie Craig, Secretary of State Steve Simon and Congressman Dean Phillips. You can see recordings of these town halls on the FairVote MN Youtube channel.

2021 RCV Elections – Rank Your Vote Education Campaign

After the regular legislative session ended in May, we quickly pivoted to our Rank Your Vote education campaign. 2021 was a historic year for Ranked Choice Voting in Minnesota. Bloomington, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and St. Paul all used RCV for their municipal elections, Bloomington and Minnetonka for the first time. Never before have we had five Minnesota cities – representing 16 percent of Minnesota voters – conducting ranked-choice elections at the same time.

We embarked on an ambitious education campaign to ensure all voters were prepared to rank their ballots, that all campaigns were prepared to run effective coalition-building campaigns, and that the media and city officials received accurate information about ranked-choice elections.

Educating voters

We know that the more voters hear about RCV, the more they understand it, like it, and are more likely to rank their ballots. We repeatedly told voters at community events, on social media, at the doors and over the phone to rank their ballot. In addition to constant messaging on social media, we created, produced and shared voter education videos for Bloomington, Minneapolis and Minnetonka, including a Somali version for voters in Minneapolis.

These education efforts resonated with voters and had an impact: 73 percent of Minneapolis voters, 71 percent of Minnetonka voters, and roughly 70 percent of voters in Bloomington’s citywide at-large race ranked their ballots. In the St. Louis Park Ward 3 race, the only three-way race implicating RCV, 83 percent of voters ranked their ballots. Moreover, based on exit polling of voters in Minneapolis and Bloomington, 88 percent of Minneapolis voters and 77 percent of Bloomington voters found RCV easy to use.

Educating candidates

We held two multi-day training sessions for candidates running in the ranked-choice municipal elections. Our training focused on how to build a large core base of supporters, and then ask for second and third choice support. Nearly all candidates had strategies that included reaching voters for second and third choice support, and the high percentage of voters ranking reflected their strong efforts.

We communicated with voters, campaigns and the media throughout the summer and fall to ensure everyone understood RCV and that we were a resource to answer questions and provide education. For a full analysis of the success of the recent RCV elections in Minnesota see our 2021 RCV Election Overview.

Happy New Year!

We wish you all a Happy Holiday and New Year and look forward to working with you for a stronger democracy in 2022. We’ve accomplished a lot this past year, but we also have a lot of work ahead – building legislative support and electing a pro-RCV majority in the Minnesota legislature so we are poised to pass RCV statewide in 2023!

This work takes resources, and you can help by contributing today: Two generous supporters have committed to matching every donation dollar for dollar up to $30,000 by the end of the year – double your impact by donating whatever amount you can to fund the critical work ahead.

In closing, we would like to thank our staff, and especially our unionized field team, for making extraordinary efforts to reach voters and educate them on RCV this past year. Organizing is especially difficult during a pandemic, and we are so grateful for their hard work and dedication. And of course, we are especially grateful for all of you, our supporters and donors.

Thank you all for working for RCV and a more inclusive, representative and responsive democracy.

Wishing you a warm and merry holiday,

Jeanne