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Minnetonka, Minnesota, Question 1, Ranked-Choice Voting Amendment (November 2020)
| Minnetonka Question 1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Local electoral systems and Local charter amendments | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Referral | Origin Lawmakers |
Minnetonka Question 1 was on the ballot as a referral in Minnetonka on November 3, 2020. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the city charter to elect the mayor and city council members through ranked choice voting, a system in which voters rank candidates and tabulation occurs in rounds that eliminate the candidate with the fewest votes until one candidate receives a majority of votes. |
A "no" vote opposed this measure to establish ranked choice voting for mayor and city council elections, thereby leaving the existing plurality election system in place consisting of a primary election and a general election at which voters select one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins. |
Election results
|
Minnetonka Question 1 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
18,475 | 54.71% | ||
| No | 15,293 | 45.29% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:
| “ | Shall the Minnetonka City Charter be amended to adopt Ranked Choice Voting as the method for electing the mayor and city councilmembers without a separate primary election and with ballot format and rules for counting votes to be adopted by ordinance? | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Support
Click here to view the Vote Yes Ranked Choice Voting for Minnetonka website listing endorsements and arguments.
Opposition
Click here to view the Ranked Choice Voting is a Scam website listing endorsements and arguments.
Background
Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
| Ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures | |
|---|---|
| Pages: • Ranked-choice voting (RCV) • History of RCV ballot measures • Electoral systems on the ballot • Local electoral systems on the ballot • Electoral systems by state | |
- See also: Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
The ballot measure has played a role in shaping electoral systems in the U.S., including ranked-choice voting (RCV) for state and local elections.
Since 1915, there have been more than 150 ballot measures to adopt or repeal ranked-choice voting systems. Ashtabula, Ohio, was the first jurisdiction to approve a ranked-choice voting measure in 1915.
RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates on their ballots. RCV can be used for single-winner elections or multi-winner elections; when used for multi-winner elections, the system has also been called single-transferable vote or proportional representation. These terms were often used to describe multi-winner RCV before the 1970s. You can learn more about ranked-choice voting systems and policies here.
Local RCV ballot measures
Between 1965 and 2024, 79 ranked-choice voting (RCV) local ballot measures were on the ballot in 58 jurisdictions in 19 states.
- Ballotpedia has located 71 local ballot measures to adopt RCV. Voters approved 52 (78.9%) and rejected 15 (21.1%).
- There were eight local ballot measures to repeal RCV. Voters approved four (50.0%) and rejected four (50.0%).
- The year with the most local RCV ballot measures was 2022, when nine were on the ballot in nine jurisdictions. Voters approved seven of them.
- The state with the most local ballot measures related to RCV is California, where there have been 13.
The following table shows the number of ranked-choice voting measures by topic.
| Local ranked-choice vote measures by topic and outcome, 1965 - April 2025 | |||||
| Topic | Total | Approved | Approved (%) | Defeated | Defeated (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopt RCV | 72 | 57 | 79.2% | 15 | 20.08% |
| Repeal RCV | 8 | 4 | 50.0% | 4 | 50.0% |
| Total | 80 | 61 | 76.3% | 19 | 23.7% |
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the Minnetonka City Council.[1]
In June 2020, the city council approved an ordinance proposing the charter amendment.[1]
In Minnesota, city charter amendments must be considered by a charter commission after initial approval by the city council and before the council votes to refer the measure to the ballot. The commissions must provide a recommendation within a certain time frame, but city councils are not bound by the commission's recommendation.
In July 2020, the Minnetonka Charter Commission voted 8-1 to reject the proposal and recommend against referring the charter amendment to the ballot.[1]
On August 10, 2020, the Minnetonka City Council voted unanimously to refer Question 1 to the ballot.[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
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