City Wins on IRV!

I am thrilled to report that we have won the lawsuit brought by the Minnesota Voters Alliance, challenging Ranked Choice Voting in Minneapolis. The Alliance claimed that the Minneapolis IRV provision violated both the federal and Minnesota constitutions and was preempted by State law. Hennepin County District Court Judge George McGunnigle found for the City on all claims, including the arguments that Ranked Choice Voting is unconstitutional and that the City is preempted by state law. The Judge's opinion was thorough, well-reasoned and well-researched. This is a huge victory for the City and for Ranked Choice Voting, a first step towards putting to bed the arguments about constitutionality and preemption and paving the way for more cities to adopt the voting method.


We assume that the Voters Alliance will appeal this ruling. They have 60 days from today to file an appeal. I have heard from the City Attorney that our staff will do everything they can to move this case through the appellate process as quickly as we can. However, because not much of the timing is in our power to control, it may be some time yet before we obtain a final ruling from the courts in this case, assuming the plaintiff decides to appeal.

I'd especially like to thank our great Attorney's office, represented well in this case Lisa Needham and Peter Ginder, and ably led by Susan Segal. They also got some great help from FairVote Minnesota's attorney James Dorsey.