Electoral reform in Minnesota

Electoral reform in Minnesota refers to efforts to change the voting and election laws.

Alternate voting systems

In 2006, voters in Minneapolis approved a switch to instant runoff voting by a 65% to 35% margin.^[1] The measure calls for IRV to be used in elections for Mayor, City Council, and members of the Park and Recreation Board, Library Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation. It also rolls the party primary and general election into one election.

Expansion of the electorate

Minnesota's felony disenfranchisement laws call for voting rights to be restored upon completion of sentence, including prison, parole, and probation. Minnesota allows absentee ballots for citizens who are away from home, ill or disabled, serving as an election judge in another precinct, or unable to go to the polling place due to a religious observance or belief.^[2]

Allocation of electoral votes

Bills were introduced in 2009 in the Minnesota Legislature to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact and award Minnesota's 10 electoral votes to the ticket winning the nationwide popular vote. However, the bill died in the House committee.

Ballot access

Major party candidates are nominated by the state primary process. Independent and minor political party candidates are nominated by a petition process; two-thousand signatures for a statewide election, or five hundred for a state legislative election. Candidates have a two-week period to collect nominating petition signatures. Independent candidates may select a brief political party designation in lieu of independent. Reformers would like to see the ballot access laws loosened.

References

↑ Better Ballot Campaign Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Minnesota Secretary of State.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Better Ballot Campaign Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine.

[2] Minnesota Secretary of State.

[1]

[2]

Electoral reform in the United States
States	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Federal district	Washington, D.C.
Insular areas	American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands
Commonly proposed Reforms	Approval voting Campaign Finance Reform Electoral College reform Ranked-Choice voting Term limits
Primary Reform	Primary Date Reforms (National Primary Delaware Plan California Plan Rotating Regional Primary System Interregional Primary Plan) Primary process Reforms (Open primaries Nonpartisan blanket primary Top-four primary Unified primary)