2007 Proposed Minneapolis Charter Amendment

(It is interesting here that the wording doesn't describe what it is, or what it means to the voters!)

Should the City of Minneapolis adopt Single Transferable Vote, sometimes known as Ranked Choice Voting or Instant Runoff Voting, as the method for electing the Mayor, City Council, and members of the Park and Recreation Board, Library Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation without a separate primary election and with ballot format and rules for counting votes adopted by ordinance?

 

IRV exit poll Survey Results 

The Minnesota Voters Alliance conducted the following survey after the November 2006 elections to illustrate voter knowledge of Instant Runoff Voting.  150 registered Minneapolis voters from South and Northeast Minneapolis were randomly surveyed in an exit-poll.

Our results clearly illustrate lack of voter knowledge of IRV! 

The following survey questions were offered to the voters:

How did you vote on the MPLS Charter Amendment for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)?   Yes / No / Abstain

Do you feel that you had “fully understood” IRV prior to casting your vote?  Yes / No

We asked approximately 1/2 of these respondents to briefly explain how the IRV counting method worked. NONE of them could do it! It's easy for someone to simply "say" they understood it, but explaining it is a completely different story!

 

- It might have helped voters a little if the ballot format and the rules for counting were spelled out prior to the voters voting on it.   But, reprehensibly, they were to be adopted by ordinance after the election.  This could have drastically changed the outcome.