2026 RCV Democracy Champion!
FairVote Minnesota awarded the 2026 badge to candidates who support the current RCV local options legislation, allowing more local jurisdictions to adopt RCV if they choose, as well as to those who support the future adoption of RCV for state and federal elections.
Voters are frustrated by increasing divisions and extremism in our politics, partisan gridlock preventing action on critical issues and too many elections where candidates win without majority support; Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a simple, commonsense change to the ballot, but one that is well-suited to meet these challenges.
RCV:
Gives voters greater voice, choice and power
Eliminates the spoiler problem and wasted votes
Ensures winners have earned a majority of voter support
Fosters more civil campaigns and a more responsive government
Promotes more inclusive, diverse and representative elections
Reduces political division and extremism
In local elections, RCV eliminates the high-cost, low-turnout primary and combines the primary and general elections into one election in November when turnout is higher and more representative of the community.
How RCV works
Ranked choice voting is simple. Instead of choosing just one candidate - you mark your first-choice, second-choice and so on. If a candidate has more than 50% of the first-choice votes, they win. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those voters have their second choice counted. This process continues until one candidate reaches a majority and wins.
Local options legislation
Under current law, only a handful of charter cities have the authority to adopt ranked choice voting. Other local jurisdictions are governed by state law and don’t have the choice to use RCV — even if they want to. RCV is even more restricted because several charter cities hold elections in even years alongside state and federal elections, and there are no legislative standards for how local ranked-choice elections would work in these election cycles.
I support ranked choice voting local options legislation for 2026 that would give all Minnesota counties, cities, towns, and school boards the opportunity to use RCV if they choose, and provide consistent standards for implementation.
RCV has been tested and successful in Minnesota cities and across the country, and more local jurisdictions should have the opportunity to use it.
