| Jeanne Massey | Star Tribune |
What we saw on Election Day confirmed it. Voters claimed their power. They used ranked-choice voting (RCV), and they used it well.
For more than a decade, Minneapolis and St. Paul have used RCV in competitive mayoral and council elections. But this year, RCV came fully into its own. Voters not only understand the system, they embraced it. Campaigns, too, have learned to organize and build broader voter coalitions in ways that reflect the incentives RCV is designed to create. And the results speak for themselves.
They like ranking
In Minneapolis, 94.4% of ballots counted in the final RCV round. In St. Paul, it was 92.7%. These exceptionally high continuation rates reflect what voters tell us again and again: They like ranking, they find it easy and they do not want to return to a primary-general system that limits choices in November.
Turnout also hit new highs in both cities — again — under RCV, which encourages competitive campaigns throughout the fall, rather than an early August primary that too many voters miss. When the meaningful election happens in November, more people participate — and they did.
This is what stronger democracy looks like.