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Steven John
St. Paul, Minn.

Ritchie watching IRV in Minneapolis, other states

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Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie said the rollout of Instant Runoff Voting in Minneapolis doesn't mean the system will ever be used on statewide races.

IRV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. This fall, Minneapolis will start using the system for municipal offices only.

Ritchie said he has been watching how IRV is being used in other states. He cited North Carolina, which passed a law allowing municipalities to experiment with instant runoff voting in this year's election.

"They're learning that the educational process is they key to both success and voter satisfaction," Ritchie told Minnesota Public Radio News. "So other states are experimenting, we are learning some lessons from those other states. I'm hopeful that Minneapolis is paying attention."

While the North Carolina law allowed up to 10 municipalities to try instant runoff voting, only one town volunteered.

Ritchie said any decision to implement the system for statewide elections would be up to the Legislature.

This fall, St. Paul will give residents the chance on whether they want to change to instant runoff voting for city council members and the mayor.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that 10 North Carolina cities have experimented with ranked choice voting.