For the first time this year, those voting for city council members in Bloomington and Minnetonka will use Ranked Choice Voting. Promoted as being a simple process, in fact it can be confusing, even overwhelming to some.

Unlike November municipal ballots in the past, Bloomington and Minnetonka voters will be presented with more candidates from which to choose and be asked to rank them in order of preference. Voters need to understand that they do not need to rank all of the candidates. You should only rank the ones that you actually might want to see in office. If you do not favor a candidate, always leave the oval by that candidate blank. In fact, you can vote for a single candidate for each office and leave all the other preferences blank, if that one is the only one you want. But, CAUTION – rank your chosen candidate(s) only once; do not fill in one candidate’s oval across all the columns.

Understand that if none of the candidates for an office get 50% plus one vote, the candidate with the least votes will be eliminated. If you voted for that candidate, the candidate that was your second-choice will get your vote. If none of the remaining candidates in this second round exceed 50%, the process of elimination and examination of lower-preference votes will continue. It is possible that if you indicated a third preference on the ballot, that candidate could be elected based on your vote.

To see an illustration of how a Bloomington voter could vote using Ranked Choice Voting, CLICK HERE and scroll down.