Establish a Top-Four Ranked-Choice Primary System

 

To create a nonpartisan Top-Four Primary for all statewide, legislative, and congressional offices, conducted using

Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) to ensure the four strongest candidates advance to the general election. The general election

will remain a single-choice ballot.

 

Minnesota’s current partisan primary system restricts voter participation, encourages polarization, and allows

vote-splitting to reduce competition. Primary elections traditionally have lower turnout, and the voters who participate

are often more politically engaged and motivated. Using RCV in the primary reduces vote-splitting by allowing similar

candidates to compete without dividing support, encourages candidates with broad appeal and discourages divisive

campaigning, ensures the four most representative candidates advance to the general election, improves legitimacy and

competitiveness of general election ballots. This approach leverages the engaged primary electorate to produce stronger

general-election choices.

 

Primary Election: A preliminary election in which voters select which candidates will run in the general election.

Top-Four Primary: A single, nonpartisan primary election where all candidates appear on the same ballot, and the four

candidates receiving the highest vote totals advance.

Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV): A voting method in which voters rank candidates in order of preference; votes are counted in

rounds, eliminating the lowest-ranked candidates and redistributing their votes until four candidates remain.

Vote-Splitting: When candidates with similar platforms divide the support of like-minded voters, reducing each

candidate’s chance of advancing.

Applicable Offices: All statewide executive offices, Minnesota House and Senate seats, and U.S. congressional seats

elected in Minnesota.

General Election: The single election held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November in every

even-numbered year, where voters choose candidates for all congressional, statewide, and legislative offices in

Minnesota.

 

Funding for this Act shall come from the Minnesota General Fund, specifically from the Secretary of State’s office,

which currently has an approximate budget of $12 million. The $5 million appropriation for implementing the Top-Four

Ranked-Choice Primary will be provided through a reallocation of ongoing operational expenses currently used to maintain

election processes, including routine administrative costs and existing election logistics. Implementing RCV is expected

to reduce some ongoing operational costs, such as ballot printing and manual vote counting for multi-party primaries,

partially offsetting the appropriation. No additional taxes or state surplus funds will be used.

 

The Secretary of State shall oversee compliance with ballot design, tabulation rules, and reporting standards. Counties

failing to implement required procedures may be subject to administrative corrective orders. For each instance of

noncompliance, a county may be fined up to $10,000, as fines for election-related violations under state law range from

$1,000 to $25,000, depending on the severity (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 204C). Temporary state supervision may be

imposed until full compliance is achieved.

 

This Act shall take effect January 1, 2027, for implementation in the 2028 primary election cycle.