Bloomington’s ballot initiative to implement Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for municipal elections has passed preliminarily with a slim margin.  Going forward with Ranked Choice Voting requires a change to the Bloomington City Charter.  Any Charter change must pass by 51%.  Votes in favor of Ranked Choice Voting current sit at 51.19% 

Of the 49,489 votes cast on the question, 25,239 were needed to reach the 51% threshold.  “Yes” votes tallied following the close of Bloomington’s polling states was 25,332.  A margin of 93 votes.

The Sun Current reported the “the final vote count could be influenced by uncounted ballots, according to City Manager Jamie Verbrugge. It is unknown how many absentee ballots may be at Hennepin County, and if they had been counted upon the completion of Bloomington’s ballot tally from its 32 precincts.

“The safest answer is it will be a few days, probably, before we are able to say for sure what the outcome is for RCV,” Verbrugge was quoted as saying.

Opponents of Ranked Choice Voting in Bloomington reiterated again that a change of this significance should not have been pushed by the City Council during the pandemic and the related emergency restrictions.  Given the extremely close voting, opponents do not believe that the last word has been spoken on Ranked Choice Voting in Bloomington.

Massachusetts voters rejected RCV for state-wide elections on November 3 despite support from the state’s top-ranking elected Democrats, a massive fundraising advantage, and an army of volunteers.

If you have a No RCV Voting sign and would like it picked up, please email [email protected]