Instant runoff waiting

By David Wheeler

Question: "Did you win the election?" Answer: "I think so."

I decided in late April to run for the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxation, an elected body with the responsibility of setting the maximum city and Park Board property tax levy, voting on bonding and overseeing the internal audit function.

This very part-time board has seven seats. Members include the mayor, the City Council president, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, a Park Board representative, a library board representative (unfilled because of the merger with the Hennepin County), and two representatives elected at-large.

It is to one of those at-large positions that I may have been elected, or not.

I did not receive the DFL endorsement in May, but I continued my campaign. During the summer the Charter Commission recommended that Board of Estimate and Taxation be eliminated. Suddenly the race was becoming more interesting -- I was running for a position that might disappear. It felt like a page from "Alice in Wonderland."

And just to make the campaign more interesting, the November 2009 Minneapolis municipal election was set to be Minnesota's first using Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV, also called Ranked Choice Voting, or RCV. Voters would have the opportunity to make a first, second and third choice for the available offices. There would be no primary, so the candidates could focus all their efforts on the November election.

Six candidates filed for the two at-large seats on the Board of Estimate and Taxation. Three of them built alliances to rank choice vote for each other, and jointly encouraged people not to vote for me. With two seats and ranked choice voting, a winning candidate needed 33.3 percent plus one of the first-place votes. As Election Day approached it became clear that there would be three top candidates vying for the two available positions.

Carol Becker, the endorsed incumbent, won with 52 percent of the first-place votes. I came in second with 19 percent, and Phil Willkie came in third with 9 percent. I received the most second-place votes, and the second most third-place votes. Because there are no certified Ranked Choice Voting machines (they exist, but are not approved) all the municipal races are being hand-counted.

We did learn immediately that the Board of Estimate and Taxation will continue. Nearly 65 percent of the voters said "No" to elimination.

So now we wait for the election results -- something to which Minnesotans have become accustomed.

I support RCV, because it really does allow those who vote to have a decisive say in who will represent them. Although it appears extremely likely that I will be elected once all the votes are redistributed and tallied, the uncertainty makes this a very difficult time.

Without machines to count the ballots, there is nothing "instant" about this instant runoff voting. Waiting for results is contrary to the American norm of immediate gratification. But until we fully examine this new voting method, and eventually get machines that can give us the quick results we crave, we will just have to wait.

I don't mind. After all, early in the election cycle, there was a real possibility that the office I was running for could have disappeared. For now I will have to be content with peering through the looking glass.

David Wheeler, a United Methodist minister and former Duluth City Council member, currently serves as development director for a large nonprofit that supports people with disabilities.

Gallery

Fullscreen SlideshowPrevious Slide

1 of 1

Next Slide