Ranked Choice Voting

In the 2020 General Election, Bloomington voters approved adopting Ranked choice voting to elect the Mayor and City Council members. The vote was 51.2% voting YES and 48.8% voting NO.

On April 26, 2021, the City Council passed an ordinance to approve ranked choice voting in the City of Bloomington. Staff will provide voter education in advance of the November 2021 City Council election. This election will be the first time ranked choice voting will be used in Bloomington.

PDF icon Ranked Choice Voting Ordinance

More information will be available at blm.mn/vote as the 2021 election approaches.

You can ask questions about Ranked Choice Voting at Let's Talk Bloomington.

What is Ranked Choice Voting?

Sometimes referred to as “instant runoff voting” or “preferential voting,” ranked choice voting is a process that allows voters to rank their choices for each office. 

First choice votes are counted. If no candidate has a majority of the votes (more than 50%), the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes is eliminated. Voters who picked the eliminated candidate as their first choice have their second-choice vote counted instead. This process repeats until one candidate has a majority.

Where is Ranked Choice Voting currently used?

In 2021, the cities of Bloomington and Minnetonka will join Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and St. Paul in using ranked choice voting for municipal elections. Ranked choice voting is also used in various other jurisdictions around the country.

When will Ranked Choice Voting be used?

Ranked choice voting will be used for municipal elections, starting in November 2021.

Ranked choice voting will be used for municipal elections only. Ranked choice voting cannot be used for federal, state, county or school board elections.

Bloomington Public Schools (BPS) also holds elections in the odd-numbered years. What impact will there be on BPS?

There is no impact on Bloomington Public Schools or the election of School Board members. School Board seats will continue to be on the ballot for the General Election in November of odd-numbered years and will continue to use single-choice plurality voting, as is used today. (Ranked choice voting may be used only for municipal elections. State law does not allow its use for federal, state, county or school board elections.)

The School District does not currently hold a Primary Election for School Board seats, therefore the elimination of the Primary in odd-numbered years does not have an impact on the District.

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