Once again, a devastating mass shooting has killed school children in our country. Our hearts are with the students, staff and families facing this horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. And, of course, just weeks ago, ten Black community members were killed while shopping in a grocery store by a shooter with racist intent. We would say that these are “unimaginable” tragedies, except that these mass shootings have become far too common.
Overwhelming majorities of voters – across all political parties – want action to stop gun violence, but the inaction illustrates the broader problem of our political system that, all too often, bends to extremists and fails to act in the interests of the majority of voters. Our current election system fosters a polarized political environment where elected officials are more focused on denying wins to the opposing party rather than working on collaborative solutions for their constituents. And in multi-candidate races, candidates who win with a small plurality of voter support are more likely to be beholden to an extreme base, or a special interest group, rather than the broader electorate.
Political polarization is killing us.
Beyond gun violence, there are a multitude of policy goals and needs that are being unmet due to our political dysfunction. Indeed, our state legislative session ended last week, with no bonding bill, no tax cut, and no funding for education, gun violence prevention, public safety, healthcare, or any of the other policy priorities Minnesotans so desperately need. This inaction resulted in spite of a record budget surplus. Minnesota is one of only two divided legislatures in the country, and for now, most of that $8 billion plus remains unspent, as the state legislative session ended without agreement between the two parties, each side blaming the other for being unwilling to compromise. It’s possible that Governor Walz and legislative leaders could work out a deal for a special session to pass compromises on tax cuts and spending, but any future deal is uncertain right now.
Unfortunately, many of us are not surprised because we have come to expect gridlock and partisanship. But we are here to remind you that it does not have to be this way.
We can change the structure of our system so that elected officials are incentivized to work in a more collaborative manner to address the needs of all Minnesotans. Ranked Choice Voting can help break through the gridlock and bring about a more effective, functioning state government.
The same dysfunction and partisanship also frustrated action on our RCV for Minnesota bill. Despite having more than 40 authors, one of the most popular bills of the session, the Senate immediately blocked it, and the House didn’t prioritize it with no chance in the Senate. To ensure RCV and other blocked election measures were heard, we hosted a Rally for Democracy with other democracy reform organizations on May 4 in the Minnesota Capitol Rotunda where hundreds attended and cheered on democracy champions who support protecting and expanding voting rights and passing proven and powerful reforms like Ranked Choice Voting. Gov. Tim Walz spoke at the rally and again reiterated his strong support for RCV. Without it, we cannot break through the partisan gridlock holding back progress in Minnesota.
Thanks to all of you who joined the rally, contacted your legislators this session, helped us educate voters at conventions, donated, and volunteered in other ways to move RCV forward in our state. We are so grateful for your support.
In the coming days, we will move from the legislative session to the election season and our RCV democracy champion candidate program. Stayed tuned for updates on the relaunch of that very successful program. If we want to move beyond gridlock and improve our politics, we will need to elect pro-RCV candidates to the legislature in 2022.
In the past, some have criticized FairVote MN for speaking about policies or events beyond RCV. However, we feel strongly that as a democracy reform organization, it is incumbent on us to call out times when our current system is failing us. The gun violence epidemic is a clear and persistent example of that failure.
Thanks again for all your support,
Jeanne
[link removed] [[link removed]] [link removed] [[link removed]]

FairVote Minnesota
550 Vandalia Street, Suite 210
Saint Paul, MN 55114
United States
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe: [link removed] .