Instant Runoff Voting for City of Minneapolis?

[Mister Ed]

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/463589.html

After the City Council voted 11-1 to put the issue on the November ballot, the next stop for instant-runoff voting in Minneapolis is the city's Charter Commission, which can make suggestions, but is unlikely to derail the referendum.

The earliest city election that could be affected by the change would be in 2009, but Benson said the council could push that back if the cost of acquiring the software to count the votes is prohibitive.

Still, supporters are buoyed and view success in Minneapolis as a precursor to changing statewide elections.

"Our task now is to educate the voters before November," said Jeanne Massey, lead organizer for the Minneapolis Better Ballot Campaign. "We'll be gearing up for the general election campaign for referendum. We've got an enormous base to build from."

The change has the backing of the Minneapolis DFL Party. The state Green and Independence parties both support instant-runoff voting in their platforms. "We're going to be actively engaged in trying to help it pass," said former Independence Party chairman Jack Uldrich.

[goodhue]

1. you bet