MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly 15 years ago, Minneapolis became the first Minnesota city to switch to ranked-choice voting, acting as a laboratory for a new system that supporters argued would tamp down the sharp division that ails politics.
Four other Minnesota cities have since followed, and proponents say the experiment is over: The system works and Minnesota should take the next step toward implementing it for all state and federal races.
"Ranked-choice voting is tried and tested," said Jeanne Massey, executive director of FairVote Minnesota, a nonprofit that has spent nearly two decades pushing for broader use of the system. "The benefits of ranked-choice voting are not theoretical. It is one of the most effective ways to put a big dent in the division and disinformation that is undermining our democracy."
