Your Voice, Your Choice: Navigating Ranked Choice Voting in the Twin Cities Elections

It’s election season in the Great Twin Cities!

In the city of Minneapolis, residents are able to go to the polls and vote for their city mayor, City Council, Park and Recreation Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation.

All 13 seats for City Council are up for election. For the Park and Recreation Board, nine seats on the board are being contested: three positions serve at-large, and one commissioner represents each of the six park districts. Lastly, for the Board of Estimate and Taxation, two at-large positions are on the ballot.

Voters in the city of St. Paul will also be voting for the mayor’s office. Unique to St. Paul, a special election is being held for the City Council seat in Ward 4 and for the Independent School District. Other positions up for vote include the City Council seat for Ward 2 and a few school board members in some districts.

Regardless of which city you are in, we encourage you to do your own research based on your specific area to better understand who and what position you are voting for.

 This year we are seeing how RANKED CHOICE VOTING will be SHAPING The elections in our great citys!

You may be wondering: what is rank choice voting?

Ranked choice voting or RCV for short, allows voters to rank candidates by preference.

Best way to explain it: Let’s say you must pick a dessert option, and you have a choice between cookies, cake, ice cream, or pie. With so many good options, it can be hard to choose just one. However, with RCV, instead of having to choose only one option, you are able to choose the dessert options in order from most favorite to least favorite, what you would eat right now and what you would eat if one of the desserts was not available.

Great!

But, you are probably thing but why do this? why use RCV in elections?

RCV gives more power, in a sense, back to the voters. Rather than having to make a single vote for one candidate, your vote and choices will still count no matter who your first preference is. RCV allows voters to have more of a choice and vote accordingly.

Elections are your chance to have a say in how your city is run, and tools like ranked choice voting give your voice even more power. Take the time to learn about the candidates and the positions up for vote in your area, your choices matter. No matter which city you live in, being informed and participating in the election is the best way to make sure your voice is heard. So, get out there, rank your choices, and help shape the future of the Twin Cities!

Happy election season!