Opponents get ranked-choice voting back on the ballot in Minnetonka

Minnetonka voters will decide Nov. 7 for the second time in three years whether they want to use ranked-choice voting for City Council and mayoral elections.

In 2020, residents approved a charter amendment with 55% of the vote to use the unconventional way of picking winning candidates in city elections. The ballot question was put to voters by the council after a charter commission recommended against it.

Now, a group opposed to ranked-choice voting has gathered the 1,500 signatures needed to put a repeal on the ballot. The opponents say many voters didn't pay attention to the ranked-choice voting debate three years ago because of the pandemic and the contentious presidential election.

"It is complex, costly and confusing to a lot of voters," said Ellen Cousins, chair of the Yes to Repeal RCV in Minnetonka Committee. "We should be concentrating on who to vote for, not how to vote."

It is a common critique of the sometimes divisive way of deciding elections. Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and St. Louis Park also use ranked-choice voting, and advocates want more cities to try it.

When there are more than two people in a race, ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank candidates by preference — first, second and third. If no one gets more than 50% of the vote, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their voters' second choices are reallocated.

Barb Westmoreland, who co-chairs the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting Minnetonka that is trying to keep it, said the change to so-called instant runoff voting has been good for the city. More candidates are running for council since the change and resident feedback has been positive, she said.

This year is the second election in which Minnetonka will use ranked-choice voting; a dozen candidates are vying for four seats on the council. In 2021, 13 ran for two council seats and mayor.

Westmoreland said that is an increase in candidates compared with previous elections when an August primary was used to pick two candidates for each race in the general election.

"That was one of the biggest reasons I started promoting ranked-choice voting," Westmoreland said. She said the practice will save the city money in the long run because primaries are no longer needed.

Cousins said outside groups like the nonprofit FairVote Minnesota worked to push ranked-choice voting on Minnetonka residents in 2020. She said her nonpartisan committee to repeal it includes only local residents.

"This is a very big grassroots effort by only Minnetonka residents to get it on the ballot," Cousins said.

A "yes" vote on the ballot question would be in favor of repealing ranked-choice voting in Minnetonka; a "no" vote would be in favor of keeping it.