Duluth, MN

In 2015, Duluth voters in a 15,564 to 5,271 tally decided they would not join Minneapolis and St. Paul using RCV in place of their current voting system. Voters could not justify the change. 

Walter Mondale wrote a letter to the Duluth newspaper calling RCV "confusing and complex".

On February 8, 2016, the Brooklyn City Council said no to ranked-choice voting for their city elections.

One resident said, "I don't think it is fair for my vote to be diluted in a ranked-choice vote."

Council member Terry Parks said, "I don;t want to be like Minneapolis or St. Paul. I want to be Brooklyn Park."

Brooklyn Park's Charter Commission was first brought the idea of Ranked-Choice Voting in 2011 when the current Bloomington City Manager was City Manager in Brooklyn Park.

What makes Red Wing so unique is that local elections are held on even-years along with most state and federal elections.  Most all other municipalities being courted for RCV have odd numbered year elections.  What Red Wing found was that Minnesota law does not provide protection for the use of Ranked-Choice Voting.  Therefore the council members unanimously decided not to move forward.

Governor Jerry Brown returned an RCV bill in 2016 stating that RCV was OVERLY COMPLICATED and CONFUSING.  He believed that voting should be KEPT SIMPLE to encourage voter participation.

Governor Gavin Newsom in 2019 decided that RCV had already been tried in California, had led to VOTER CONFUSION and was not necessarily more "democratic".  

If two consecutive California state executives say RCV is not necessarily easy as 1,2,3 and as democratic as supporters tell you, you have to know something is amiss.