Second Ward, Minneapolis

This is a public policy forum that was established in 2006 by Minneapolis Second Ward (Green) City Council Member Cam Gordon and his policy aide Robin Garwood to share what they were working on and what life in City Hall was like. After serving 4 terms Cam lost his relection in 2021 but has continued to be involved in local politics and to use this forum to report and share his perspective on public policy. Please feel free to comment on posts, within certain ground rules.

Monday, October 21, 2013

Op-Ed on Ranked Choice Voting

The Journal has run an op-ed I wrote answering some frequently asked questions about ranked choice voting.  I encourage you to go read it, but here are the main points:
  • You can't help your most-preferred candidate by "bullet voting" for him or her, and you can't hurt your most-preferred candidate by using all three of your rankings
  • RCV is not responsible for the huge mayoral field - that's the fault of the low filing fee and no incumbent on the ballot
  • RCV is not confusing to voters, according to research conducted on the Minneapolis municipal election in 2009
  • Voters should use all three rankings, if there are three candidates they support
  • RCV has produced a mayor's race without the low-turnout primary and without the rancor and divisiveness of past races, and that's a good thing

posted by Cam Gordon @ 1:15 PM

1 Comments:

At 4:28 PM, Anonymous Shirley Neilson said...

Cam, I believe that the filing fee should be changed to $100, not $500, or maybe a petition requirement of maybe 250-300 signatures to file for becoming a mayoral candidate. I fear a $500 filing fee as the council is considering would price lower income candidates out of the race, and this is not what democracy is about. Just as there must not be poll taxes, or property requirements to vote, nor should there be exorbitant filing fees for running for office.

 

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