allen kathir

They went there to ensure that nobody was wrongfully turned away from a Minneapolis polling place infamous for electoral mishaps. They ended up across the street, with police threatening arrest if they set foot inside again.

Minneapolis’ first try at instant-runoff voting went well, judging by a low number of spoiled ballots. But the number of ballots cast was also low, spoiling the system’s otherwise successful debut.

Getting named in a developer’s lawsuit on Thursday, five days before Election Day, was bad enough. But Friday wasn’t much better for Minneapolis Council Member Diane Hofstede, whose office got more than 50 calls after the city’s public works department towed cars to clear University Avenue for cleaning without having posted required warning signs. Among [...]

Thanks to instant-runoff voting and no primary, everyone running for office in Minneapolis will stay in the race through the general election. For lesser-known candidates, that may be most significant impact of the city’s new election system.