mpls: IRV is a Great Idea that will be Shot Down!

Here's a story that makes me happy . . . Talk of Instant Runoff Voting in Minneapolis.

Widespread support doesn't ensure the question will be put to voters this fall. There are only three ways to get an amendment on the ballot: through a vote by the City Council or the Charter Commission, or through a petition drive in which the signatures of 5 percent of the number of voters who turned out in the last city election are collected and verified. In this case, it would require 10,000 signatures, Massey said. Before any group could begin circulating a petition, the Charter Commission must approve its wording.

IRV would immediately double the vote going to third parties, and give the Greens (and others?) a great shot at city-wide offices.

That's why it'll never pass without a serious mega-grassroots effort.

My Promise:

If anyone high up in the DFL campaigns for this, I'll move to Woodbury.