An agreement to address race-based policing and change the culture of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) was reached after a settlement between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR), MPD and the city of Minneapolis on March 31.

The settlement resulted from MDHR’s investigation into Minneapolis and MPD, which concluded MPD had a history of repeated discriminatory practices.

“Minneapolis community members deserve to be treated with humanity,” MDHR Commissioner Rebecca Lucero said in a statement. “This court-enforceable agreement provides the framework for lawful, non-discriminatory policing, reduces unnecessary dangers for officers, and results in better public safety.”

While the city and MPD denied any wrongdoing, the investigation ended with definitive changes to police practices. The 144-page settlement outlines changes to police training, searches, stops and conduct.

“Our overriding goal will be building a better, more just approach to policing and community safety in Minneapolis,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement. “Today, we confront our past and move forward with a roadmap for meaningful change in our city.”

Minneapolis Chief of Police Brian O’Hara said the agreement is a step in improving public trust in the MPD.

“Today is an important day on our path to building public trust in our police department and ensuring the safety and wellness of both our residents and police officers,” O’Hara said upon the approval of the agreement.

Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins said the agreement will lead to improved police conduct and accountability.

“This settlement represents a roadmap for greater accountability, transparency, better training and police wellness,” Jenkins said.

A step in the right direction, but issues remain, activists say

While the MPD, City Council members and Frey praised the settlement, not everyone was enthusiastic.

The settlement ignored community input and left community members in the dark until it was voted on by the City Council, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) and Minneapolis for Community Control of Police (MCCP) said in a joint statement.

“While the agreement lays out some much-needed policy changes, ultimately the structure of the power mechanism is unchanged,” TCC4J and MCCP said in a joint statement. “They are asking for blind trust from a community that has borne the brunt of racist and violent policing for decades.”

While the settlement does create a community-based group, the Community Oversight Commission, to examine police policy, the commission can only make recommendations to the city. Those recommendations can be dismissed if they’re “unduly burdensome.”

TCC4J and MCCP argued for the creation of the Minneapolis Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC), an elected board of civilians to review MPD officers, policies and budget.

“Without empowering community members to lead accountability and reform efforts, we can’t break free from the endless cycle of police abuse and inaction,” TCC4J and MCCP said in a joint statement.

Changes related to the murders of Daunte Wright and George Floyd

Among the changes are those connected with the murders of Daunte Wright and George Floyd.

Former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter pulled Daunte Wright over two years ago in Brooklyn Park for an expired license plate and an air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror. While attempting to detain Wright for a warrant, Potter claimed she tried to reach for her Taser, but instead grabbed her gun.

Potter was sentenced to two years of jail time for first- and second-degree manslaughter. Potter was released on April 24 after serving 16 months in prison.

Under the settlement, police can no longer pull cars over for expired license plates or hanging items from a rear view window.

To reduce the chances of accidentally firing a gun, officers must keep their Taser on the non-dominant side of their holster.

Former Minnepaolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the back of George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, even as Floyd could be heard repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe,” on May 25, 2020. Floyd died at the hospital as a result of Chauvin’s actions.

Former officers Tou Chou, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were with Chauvin during Floyd’s murder and did not attempt to intervene. Chauvin and the three officers were convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights.

Less than two weeks later, the Minneapolis City Council voted to ban the use of chokeholds and neck restraints. In the same meeting, the council approved requiring officers to intervene when excessive force is in use. Failure to do so will result in the same disciplinary action as actually using excessive force.

The new settlement reaffirms the MPD must continue these policies.

Other changes to MPD Policies

Following the settlement, MPD will make changes to vehicle stops, searches of people or property and body camera footage.

Officers can no longer pull vehicles over for broken windshield wipers, a cracked windshield, tinted windows and driving with only one working headlight or rear view mirror.

Searches of houses, people or cars cannot be conducted based on the smell of marijuana. However, officers are still allowed to conduct drug tests if they smell marijuana.

The settlement reiterates existing MPD policies against editing or deleting body camera footage as well as turning off body cameras. Body camera footage is only publically available after a criminal investigation concludes and shows the discharge of a weapon or significant use of force.

Use of force and police conduct investigations

Officers will report their use of force based on the new three levels of force. MPD can use that data to determine the effectiveness of training, review officers’ uses of force and ensure accountability.

Level one use of force is any kind of force that is expected to cause harm but does not result in harm or a complaint of harm. Armbars, leg sweeps, pinning of body weight and takedowns that do not lead to complaints of harm are level one uses of force.

The use of police dogs, tasers, pepper spray and rubber bullets are level two uses of force as well as any uses of force that lead to complaints of pain.

Using a firearm, striking a person in the head or neck with a weapon and hitting a person’s head near a hard surface are level three uses of force. Any use of force resulting in the person going to the hospital or dying is also considered a level three use of force.

A reporting supervisor must review all level two and three uses of force to gather facts on the incident and conclude whether there were any MPD policy violations. This data is collected and added to MPD’s internal database.

For an officer to be punished for breaking MPD policies or laws, an investigation into a supervisor’s report or police misconduct complaints from the community will begin.

The investigation’s report will be sent to the review panel, which will decide what action should be taken next.

If the panel believes policies or laws were broken, their recommendations will be sent to the police chief, who will then decide whether they agree with the panel’s recommendations. If the chief disagrees with the panel, no action will be taken against the accused officer.

TCC4J and MCCP said policies like these fail to keep police accountable.

“The Minneapolis Police Department will avoid accountability and reparative action at all costs,” TCC4J and MCCP said. “The City and MPD have resisted these reforms for decades. Why should we trust that it will be different this time?”

Opening its doors on April 18, $1.99 Americano provides Dinkytown residents with a cafe selling waffles, ice cream and coffee.

With yellow-painted interior walls, a brick exterior and stools in front of a window facing Fourth Street, $1.99 Americano offers students a place to relax before classes. The shop is open daily from 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Chang Yoo, who owns the nearby CrunCheese and a Korean restaurant in St. Paul, said he saw an opening for a Dinkytown restaurant that sells breakfast, dessert and coffee.

Right next to Goldy’s Locker Room, $1.99 Americano moved into a location previously owned by a print shop.

With their espressos, lattes and frappes all costing less than $6, Yoo said he hopes his store will be a more affordable coffee shop for students.

Yoo immigrated to Minnesota from Korea as a child in 1999. According to Yoo, every shop he founded takes inspiration from his country of origin.

Diverting from traditional ice cream shops, $1.99 Americano’s ice cream is served in the Korean Ah-Boong style, which pairs soft-serve ice cream with fillings and toppings all inside a waffle cone in the shape of a fish.

Customers can add Nutella or redbean filling to the bottom of their cone. Current ice cream flavors are matcha, milk or a mixture of both. Toppings like strawberries, oreos and chocolate are also included on top.
As the shop name implies, Americano coffee is sold for $1.99. Beyond Americano, the store also sells lattes, frappes, flavored lemonades and espresso drinks.
University of Minnesota student and $1.99 Americano customer MJ Koul said the store’s opening gave her a new place to enjoy coffee.

“I like that [the store] had cheap but good black coffee,” Koul said. “I’m excited to have somewhere to go other than Starbucks.”
Along with the inexpensive coffee, customers can order $1.99 Americano’s waffles topped with whipped cream, fruits, cinnamon, oreo, Nutella or ice cream for less than $7.

Yoo said he imagines $1.99 Americano as a “grab-and-go” store where students can quickly stop for breakfast, lunch or dessert.

With stools and a bar top, Yoo said $1.99 Americano could also serve as a study space for students.

Yoo said as more ingredients come in and they learn more about what customers like, more will be added to the menu.

“We hope to offer this community something new — something they haven’t had before,” Yoo said.

The last major hurdle to cannabis legalization was passed on Friday after the Minnesota Senate voted on a bill to legalize the selling, growing and consumption of weed for those age 21 and older.

The bill passed the Senate along party lines in a 34-33 vote. 

Gov. Tim Walz has already indicated his intention to sign the bill into law. Minnesota will join 22 other states who legalized cannabis for recreational use. 

All criminal records associated with the possession or sale of marijuana will be removed.

Co-author of the bill Sen. Lindsey Port (DFL-Burnsville) said eliminating all criminal records associated with marijuana was a priority when passing cannabis legalization.

“There can be no legalization without expungement,” Port said. “The harm of incarceration has been borne primarily by communities of color, especially Black men.”

Sen. Clare Omou Verbeten (DFL-St. Paul) said the bill takes steps toward fixing Minnesota’s past mistakes with cannabis.

“People should know that these convictions have a long, lingering effect on people’s lives,” Verbeten said. “This is what this bill is about. It’s about righting those past wrongs.”

While medical cannabis use and hemp-derived low-THC food and drinks were already legal, Minnesotans will be able to legally smoke marijuana, upon signing the bill into law.

Minnesotans can carry two ounces of cannabis in public and one and a half at home once the law is enacted. 

Minnesotans will be able to grow cannabis plants for business or personal use in their home. Eight cannabis plants can be grown at once as long as only four are matured at a time.

Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) said the bill lacks funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment.

“Our communities will be less safe with increased use and availability of marijuana,” Nelson said in a statement.

The bill will also create a Cannabis Advisory Council with health experts, farmers and state and city officials to study the effectiveness of Minnesota’s marijuana legislation and industry.

As Ramadan comes to a close, Muslim University of Minnesota students want to draw attention to Islamophobic violence across the United States.

Some Muslim students believe America has yet to acknowledge the impact of Islamophobia, Internal Vice President of the University’s Muslim Student Association Husaam Qureishy, said.

“It’s important to bring it up over and over again to ensure it’s not swept under the rug,” Qureishy said. “These issues are still happening.”

A 2019 report from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding found that fear of and discrimination against Muslims was on the rise nationwide.

Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced legislation condemning white supremacy and Islamophobia on the first full day of Ramadan, March 23. The final day of Ramadan, the month-long holiday in Islam that includes fasting from sunup to sundown, was Thursday.

Omar’s resolution also addressed the impact gun violence and mass shootings have on Muslim communities by committing to end gun violence and disavowing attacks on places of worship.

With the terror attacks inspired by the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque shooting in 2019 and a rise in Islamophobia across the country over the past few years, Omar said the government must do more to protect religious groups.

“We must reaffirm that all people of faith should have the right to worship without fear,” Omar said in a statement announcing the resolution.

The resolution also recognizes the threat white supremacy poses in radicalizing people and encouraging violence against religious minorities.

The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where it currently sits.

Zayna Amanat, a Muslim student at the University, said Islamophobia is a pressing issue that’s continually ignored.

“It’s honestly pretty annoying that this is the system we live in. The approach to violence, the weapons of violence, and the acts of violence aren’t going away,” Amanat said. “It doesn’t feel like the government actually cares.”

Government Affairs Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations Robert McCaw said hateful beliefs drive anti-Muslim attacks.

“This reprehensive act of violence was driven by the extremist ideologies of white supremacy, Islamophobia and the so-called ‘Great Replacement Theory,’” McCaw said. “Too many lives have been lost in the name of hate.”

The “Great Replacement Theory” is a belief primarily held in the U.S. and certain other Western countries. It is a far-right conspiracy theory that left-leaning elites are trying to replace white citizens with nonwhite immigrants, including Black, Hispanic, Asian and Arab immigrants, according to the Britannica Dictionary.

While many Muslim students agree with the resolution, some, like Amanat, feel more needs to be done.

“A majority of the government doesn’t care about the people they’re meant to serve. Real change can only happen when those people leave,” Amanat said. “I think it’s important that they [not] only do things like this, but they need to keep doing things like this.”

A bill introduced into the Minnesota Legislature in February aims to combat mass teacher shortages by lowering the retirement age and reducing the consequences of early retirement to improve teacher retention; the bill is currently in committees.

For K-12 teachers, pensions serve as a retirement fund. The longer they work, the larger their pension is. In a career not often associated with large salaries, pensions give teachers a safety net to lean back on when their careers end.

Jehanne Beaton was a teacher for more than a decade and is the program coordinator for the DirecTrack to Teaching program, where aspiring students learn to become teachers. Beaton said Minnesota is struggling to fill crucial teaching positions because of dire underfunding of schools, salaries and pensions.

Spanish, math, science and career preparation courses, like woodworking and welding, urgently need more teachers, according to Beaton. Schools are also in desperate need of more assistants for special needs students.

What would change

For current Minnesota teachers, the retirement age is 66, the third-highest retirement age in the nation. If a teacher retires before then, their pensions are reduced.

While pensions are unlikely to encourage people to become teachers, Beaton said a better pension plan will keep current teachers in the field.

“The goal is to try and get people to stay in the profession longer,” Beaton said. “It’s a retention tool.”

Under the proposed bill, a teacher can retire at 62 years old or with 35 years of service and receive full benefits. The bill lessens the pension reductions for early retirement.

To calculate teacher pensions, multiply years of experience by 1.9% and their peak 60-month salary.

Caption: Teachers could retire four years earlier and receive their full pension under the new system compared to the current system, if the bill is passed. Graphic by Jack O’Connor

Comparing the current and former pension systems using a teacher who worked 34 years, retired at 61 years old and made $70,000, currently, the teacher would receive $29,393 per year. However, if the bill passes, the teacher would receive about $42,055 per year.

Jack Lillestol, a senior at the University of Minnesota, is studying to become a middle school teacher. Lillestol said funding schools and financing teacher pensions leads to quality education.

“Everyone acknowledges education is important. Everyone wants their kid to receive a great education,” Lillestol said. “But not everyone is willing to recognize the finances that it takes to get that.”

Future of Minnesota teaching

Many future educators’ concerns go far beyond retirement pensions. Concerns include workload, college debt, workplace diversity, school shootings and political attacks against teachers, according to Beaton.

Beaton said current and retired teachers have been overworked and underpaid for years.

“Aspiring teachers go into schools and see how stressed and exhausted teachers are. They really question whether they want to do that work,” Beaton said.

Despite substituting and student teaching for less than one school year, Lillestol said he knows teachers leaving the profession, teachers who work summer jobs and that he has walked in on teachers crying.

While shadowing a current teacher, University student and aspiring elementary school teacher Alexis Wolt said her mentor warned her about the profession.

“I was shadowing a teacher I really liked,” Wolt said. “She looked at me and said ‘I don’t know if I can be a teacher anymore.’”

Teachers regularly work hours after the school day ends, have class sizes greater than 30, pay for teaching equipment out-of-pocket and lack the necessary funding to provide quality education, according to some Minnesota teaching unions.

Kyle Berg is a student at the University studying to become a high school history teacher. Berg said to solve the problems facing public education, Minnesota must increase school funding.

“Schools are just underfunded,” Berg said. “It’s a simple answer to a really long list of problems.”

Teachers say pensions won’t be enough

While not solving every problem, some teacher unions feel improving the pension system is a crucial step to take in retaining teachers.

“It’s not going to save everything, but it’s a good step,” Wolt said. “There is no one thing that the state can do or anyone can do to fix public education. If these steps keep being taken, we’ll get somewhere.”

Lillestol said far more needs to be done to fight the teacher shortage.

“It’s a very, very small step because it’s still asking teachers to go through an underpaid profession for many, many years,” Lillestol said.

Eliminating the teacher shortage requires promoting teacher retention and recruitment, according to Beaton.

While not unique to the teaching profession, college debt can be especially problematic for student teachers.

Student teachers must work at least 100 hours unpaid to finish their education and some must work a paid job if they can’t pay for tuition out-of-pocket, according to Lillestol.

“If you are going to Carlson, you’re getting a big return on school. That’s not really true with teaching,” Wolt said, referring to the University’s business school. “Paying off loans with a teacher’s salary is concerning.”

Regardless of the problems facing Minnesota’s future teachers, they still want to teach, according to Beaton.

“There’s still a lot of progress that has to be made,” Berg said. “But teaching is what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Gov. Tim Walz’s first State of the State Address since winning reelection in 2022 applauded Minnesota’s economic and social strengths while criticizing Republican policies across the nation Wednesday night.

Walz used the address to emphasize the accomplishments made so far and encourage legislators to pass more legislation for Minnesotans before the end of the session. Walz said his administration ended an “era of gridlock” in Minnesota politics.

Given once a year, the State of the State Address is the governor’s opportunity to address the current state of Minnesota and promote priorities and achievements.  

The political divide of the event was physically visible with Republican legislators to the left of Walz and Democratic legislators to his right.

Democrats rose from their seats and gave stadium-like applause for Walz’s calls for better gun control, reproductive rights and gender-affirming care protections. Republicans remained silently seated for those portions.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) said in a press conference Walz’s address was nothing more than a “Democratic pep rally.”

Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) said in a press conference after the address Walz’s lack of bipartisanship comes from a  “different brand of Republican,” whose party has shifted further to the right.

Walz said during the address that although he’s a veteran, hunter and gun owner, being a parent and former teacher has proven to him the need for gun control. 

“Weapons of war have no place in our schools, in our churches or in our banks,”  Walz said.

Walz said protecting the rights to gender-affirming care, abortion and voting were a few examples of Minnesota protecting its citizens’ rights in the past year.

Walz also took the opportunity to contrast Minnesota with Republican-led states, especially Republican Gov. Ron Desantis’ Florida.

While listing his administration’s successes, Walz alluded to fights between Republicans and companies like Disney and Budweiser who’ve gone “woke.” 

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you stop complaining about corporations going woke and start giving a damn about real people and real lives,” Walz said during the address.

Comparing efforts by national Republicans to ban Critical Race Theory to his Free School Meals bill, Walz said Minnesota is taking steps forward in education as other states take steps back.

“They’re banning books in their schools. We’re banishing hunger from ours,” Walz said.

Walz also denounced the rise of legislation targeting LGBTQ+ communities across the country. 

Minnesota borders Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota, which have banned gender-affirming care for minors this year. Florida expanded limitations on classroom discussion of sex and gender identity in the dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics.

“The forces of hatred and bigotry are on the march in states across this country,” Walz said. “That march stops at Minnesota’s borders.”

Walz also wished Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic (DFL-Minneapolis) a speedy recovery as she works to return to the capitol following her cancer diagnosis.

Looking toward the future, Walz said gun safety legislation and increasing school funding will be passed before the session ends on May 22.

A bill banning the sale of flavored tobacco is leaving some tobacco shops and tobacco users with concerns.

Products like menthol cigarettes, flavored vapes and other flavored nicotine and tobacco products will be banned if the bill passes. The measure won’t punish anyone owning flavored tobacco but would prohibit businesses from selling it.

While the sale of flavored tobacco is already banned or restricted in multiple cities and counties across Minnesota, this bill would prohibit the sale statewide. The bill was introduced on Feb. 27 but has not been passed by the House or the Senate yet.

The Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and the state of Minnesota are already suing Juul Labs and tobacco-producer Altria for purposefully advertising to kids through flavors intended to attract young people and deceptive advertising designed to hook children on nicotine. The trial began at the end of March.

“Kids are attracted to what is shiny, slick, cool,” Ellison said in his opening statement of the lawsuit. “That is exactly who Juul and Altria were targeting and preying upon.”

Tobacco shop expresses concerns

With menthol cigarettes and flavored nicotine making up a large percentage of sales for many tobacco shops, some fear the ban will negatively impact businesses.

Some tobacco shops rely on the sale of flavored tobacco to keep profits up. Without these products, some are nervous they will close.

Minneapolis had 52 tobacco shops and 82 retailers that sold menthol tobacco in 2019, according to the city of Minneapolis.

Manager of Royal Cigar and Tobacco in Dinkytown, Moustafa Elsayed, estimated around 90% of their sold products would be banned under the new law.

“A lot of businesses are going to close. A lot of people are going to be out of jobs,” Elsayed said.

If Minnesota bans these products, black market sellers could drive outside of the state to buy these products and then sell them here, according to Elsayed.

“There is supervision at smoke shops. We check IDs,” Elsayed said. “If they ban it, there is gonna be a black market and they’re not gonna check.”

Gabriel Wright, an 18-year-old senior in high school, began smoking tobacco products in middle school. Wright said he will still find a way to get flavored tobacco products, even if a ban is put into place.

“I could drive to Wisconsin. It’s not too far from here,” Wright said.

What will and won’t be banned

The measure would prohibit the sale of all artificially-flavored products of tobacco, tobacco-related devices, electronic delivery devices, or nicotine or lobelia delivery products.

Flavored products of vapes, e-cigarettes, shisha, menthol cigarettes, nicotine pouches and chewing tobacco would be taken off store shelves. Some of the specific banned flavors mentioned in the bill include menthol, mint, wintergreen, vanilla and any candy flavor, though banned flavors are not limited to these.

Delta-8 substances, dab pens, wax pens, non-flavored disposable vape pens and unflavored cigarettes will still be available for sale and purchase if the law is passed.

Minnesota would become the sixth state, behind California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, to ban flavored tobacco products to some degree statewide.

If the bill is enacted and a shop is caught selling banned products, the punishments are the same as if the shop sold tobacco to minors. The punishment for the first violation is $75, $200 for the second and $250 and a minimum week-long suspension of their tobacco-selling license for the third offense.

The ban would go into effect on Aug. 1 if the bill is passed. Tobacco shops would have until then to sell the products affected by the ban.

Health effects and marketing

Some supporters of the ban say it would reduce the use of flavored tobacco products by minors and protect people from the negative health effects associated with them.

Because vapes and e-cigarettes are fairly new products, the long-term health effects of these devices are still unknown. However, these products contain chemicals linked to addiction, birth defects and cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Medical experts also raise concerns about the rates teenagers and young adults vape and smoke tobacco. Current studies suggest nicotine exposure can harm the development of the brain, according to the CDC.

The Consumer Advocacy for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) is opposing the ban over fears it would remove safer alternatives to smoking.

“Minnesota’s flavor ban would undermine any decision by the FDA allowing low-risk, flavored tobacco products on the market,” CASAA stated on its website.

Many medical professionals perceive flavored products as having a “gateway effect.” A majority of youth who smoked e-cigarettes or tobacco first smoked a flavored product, according to the MDH.

University student and former smoker Ben Anderson began vaping as a freshman in high school.

“I started with the fruit flavors [of vapes] … but then I went down the line from like the fruity vapes to actual tobacco,” Anderson said.

Opponents of the ban argue that if a product has harmful health effects, then consumers should make the decision whether to buy it, not the government.

Tobacco shop workers like Elsayed said a ban would be hypocritical because if products with similarly bad long-term health effects remain legal, then flavored tobacco should not be an exception.

“A lot of people drink alcohol — that has proven bad health effects,” Elsayed said. “Do kids in high school not drink? Yet they don’t ban alcohol.”

Elsayed said the ban will do more harm than good.

“You’re just making us go out of business, alongside other businesses like us,” Elsayed said. You’re not helping the kids. You’re not helping anybody.”

A new bill in the Minnesota Legislature, introduced on March 1, would implement ranked-choice voting (RCV) for federal and state elections.

The bill most recently had hearings in the House Elections, Finance and Policy Committee and the Senate Committee on State and Local Government and Veterans on March 17. Both committees amended the bill and re-referred it to committees, where it now waits.

While Minneapolis, St. Paul, St. Louis Park, Bloomington and Minnetonka voters use RCV for local elections, RCV would extend to state and federal elections if passed. Local jurisdictions would still decide whether to implement RCV for local elections.

Under RCV, voters rank their top three candidates. If their first-choice candidate receives the least amount of votes, their votes will count toward their second-choice candidates. This process is repeated until a candidate receives a majority of casted votes. This process would also be used in U.S. congressional and presidential elections in Minnesota.

If signed into law, Minnesotans would see RCV starting the 2026 electoral season. This could make Minnesota the third state, behind Alaska and Maine, to adopt RCV for statewide elections.

Supporters and opponents voice opinions

Supporters of the bill say RCV allows voters to support their favorite candidates without fear of inadvertently helping the candidate they like least.

University of Minnesota political science student Jackson Gunvalson said RCV will give voters the chance to vote for candidates they agree with instead of the more politically viable candidates.

“I think it gives people more opportunity to express themselves and their political opinions,” Gunvalson said.

State Sen. Kelly Morrison (DFL-Minneapolis) co-authored the bill and said RCV will combat “the toxicity of modern politics.”

“Candidates have to appeal to their opponents’ supporters for second and third-choice votes,” Morrison said. “They do that by running positive campaigns that focus on policy solutions rather than personal attacks.”

Opponents of RCV say recent elections with RCV have not improved candidate quality or reduced negative campaigning.

The ranking minority member on the Election Committee, Sen. Mark Koran (R-North Branch), said RCV “ removes the assurance and transparency we have come to expect from our elections.”

Based on previous RCV elections, a concern is voters not understanding how RCV works when they enter the voting booth.

“I remember for the Minneapolis RCV mayoral election, people did not fully understand it,” Gunvalson said. “At least for the first cycle or two, there will be people who are confused.”

RCV Task Force

To implement standards for RCV, the bill would create the Statewide Ranked Choice Voting Implementation Task Force. The goal of the task force would be to determine the tabulation methods and reporting process for the 2026 general election and beyond.

Members of the task force would include the secretary of state, citizen representatives from across Minnesota, elected officials and appointees of several councils and governing boards.

The Minnesota Indian Affairs Council, the Minnesota Council on Disability, the Governing Board of Fair Vote Minnesota and more would also be included in the task force to ensure a diversity of backgrounds and thought.

Money from the general fund of the Legislative Election Commission would be used to support the task force’s word and prepare for the 2026 electoral season with RCV.