Minneapolis had elections today for mayor, city council, and assorted municipal offices. This was Minneapolis’ first election using the instant runoff voting system, which allows voters to rank their choices for candidates in a particular race. There aren’t any particularly close races this year, so I’m not sure to what extent the instant-runoff feature will come into play, but it does away with cumbersome primary elections and might actually give some third-party candidates a better shot at winning elections, especially if the major-party candidates are unlikeable. I’d love to see the entire state switch to IRV, but it may take a few more election cycles to prove to the voters in rural Minnesota that IRV isn’t some pinko funny business that us Minneapolis liberal elites dreamed up at one of our wine-and-cheese parties.
I think my city council race may be close. That’s Ward 10 if you are interested.
Also appears Ward 1 has no one with 50% and the ranked choice will be played out. This is exciting stuff.