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John,
Read below for important legislative updates on Ranked Choice Voting, but if you do nothing else, please reach out to your legislators and urge them to prioritize RCV this session. [[link removed]]
What a difference having a pro-democracy legislature makes! In 2022, we helped elect pro-democracy candidates to the Minnesota legislature — candidates who believe in giving every voter the right to vote and in structural reforms like Ranked Choice Voting, which not only make our elections more inclusive, diverse, civil, and representative, but also rewards majority-winning, coalition-building candidates over extremists, as Alaska has just demonstrated. [[link removed]]
This newly elected pro-democracy legislature is wasting no time in putting forward measures to protect and strengthen our democracy. With a new Democracy Caucus and stand alone Elections Committees in both the House and Senate, measures to restore the right to vote and pre-register 16-year olds have already passed out of committee and next week a package of additional measures (HF3/SF3) will be heard that will make voting simpler and more accessible for all voters as well as strengthen campaign finance laws. The We Choose Us coalition, of which FairVote MN and RCV are a part, is holding a rally at the Capitol in support of these measures on Tuesday, Jan. 17 - sign up here to attend (and let them know you’re with FairVote MN) [[link removed]] .
Building on this exciting momentum, Representative Cedrick Frazier and Senator Kelly Morrison will soon introduce the Ranked Choice Voting for Minnesota bill. This historic bill will implement RCV for federal and state primaries and general elections and level the playing field for all local jurisdictions – cities, school districts, counties, and townships – to adopt RCV if they wish.
In her recent column [[link removed]] in the Star Tribune, Lori Sturdevant compared this moment to pass meaningful, structural democracy reform to the passage of marriage equality a decade ago. “And when Maine and Alaska showed that RCV works well in state elections”, she asked, “Why can't Minnesota be next?” Applauding the election of fellow indigenous elected leader Congresswomen Mary Peltola under Alaska’s Ranked Choice Voting system [[link removed]] , State Senator Mary Kunesh is among those pushing for Minnesota to be next. And she’s not alone!
Along with our chief authors, we are close to the majority of votes we need to pass RCV and get it to the desk of the Governor, who has committed to signing the bill!
But there’s work to do. Not only do we need to make sure we have the votes necessary to pass RCV, RCV is just the kind of nonpartisan reform that all legislators on both sides of the aisle should support and we are urging both Democrats and Republicans to back this bill.
If you’ve not yet contacted your legislators, please do it right now. Use this easy tool to email them and urge them to make RCV a priority this session. [[link removed]] And if you have, please do it again. They need to know how important RCV is to you, and they don’t mind hearing from you again!
Thank you for taking this simple but powerful step and helping make 2023 the year for RCV! Stay tuned for more updates soon as we roll out the RCV for Minnesota legislation.
Your FairVote MN team
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FairVote Minnesota
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