MN Voters Alliance News
Newsflash:
We were invited to speak at the ST. Paul City Council hearing Wednesday, July 2nd at 3:30pm.. (see www.stpaul.gov for details)
Instant-runoff voting is unconstitutional, according to the St. Paul city attorney's office. "The law is well-established; the city is not obligated to put the proposed IRV charter amendment on the ballot," City Attorney John Choi wrote. (Pioneer Press Article)
The City Council is not obligated to place unconstitutional questions on the ballot. "We don't have a crystal ball (on whether a court would find it legal), but at the end of the day we have to make a choice. Instant-runoff voting is "more likely than not" unconstitutional."
Upcoming Events
- The Mpls City Attorney's office requested more time, so we expect our IRV challenge to be heard by Hennepin County District Court in July. Be sure to check back for updates.
- We were invited to speak at the Bloomington Rotary Club meeting in early July 2008.
In The News
- We were guest speakers at the Edina “Golden K” Kiwanis Club on Tuesday, May 27th. Our message was well received.
- We gave our objections to IRV at the St. Paul Charter Commission meeting on April 21st. We got our main points across and gave the commission a copy of our litigation backgrounder and other information.
UPDATE: The St. Paul Charter Commission denied FairVote's request to put the IRV question on the ballot without a petition! They can still get it with enough valid signatures, but this is an encouraging sign.
- We were recently featured in an article in the City Pages and two separate articles in the Pioneer Press. Article 1 Article 2
- North Carolina Coalition for Verified Voting (NCCVV) supports the Minnesota Voters Alliance legal challenge against Instant Runoff Voting
- The AP and the Star Tribune covered the announcement of our legal challenge. The coverage was a bit slanted. (See our response.)
- Wheelock Whitney and Stanley Hubbard have contributed to our legal challenge. (see www.CityHallScoop.com)
- We have retained the Minneapolis law firm of Mohrmann and Kaardal to represent us in our legal challenge of IRV. UPDATE: Our challenge was filed as we announced on December 20.
- Our group spoke at the Minneapolis Business Forum meeting on December 12th at the Richfield VFW.
- Andy Cilek appeared at the Minnesota Senate hearing on IRV on November 20th. There were 6 speakers Pro-IRV, and only one Anti-IRV. (see Pioneer Press) (see Our Response)
- Our Op Ed piece, which was censored from the St. Paul Pioneer Press and from the Mpls Star Tribune, was published in the St. Cloud Times.
- We extended an IRV debate invitation to Jeanne Massey of FairVoteMN and former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer. Regretfully, Massey turned down our invitation and we haven't heard from the former Mayor.
- The Star Tribune interviewed Andy Cilek for an article saying IRV may be unconstitutional after all. It appeared Thursday, September 19, 2007.
- We were featured live from the State Fair, Friday, August 24th on the Jason Lewis show! KTLK100.3 FM, 6:30-7PM - It went great!
- In June, Matt Marchetti attended a forum on IRV held by the St. Paul Chamber of Commerce. Sadly, the event was more of a promotion of IRV than a real debate. It was also covered very poorly by the Pioneer Press.
- Andy Cilek spoke at the so-called nonpartisan Civic Caucus in Bloomington on May 3rd 2007 and stated they were a largely partisan Democratic group whose only interest is furthering their own agenda.
- On March 7th, we appeared on Minnesota Matters on Air America, the Jason Lewis show on March 19th, the Taxpayers League program on March 24th and the Northern Alliance Program on March 31st.
- Our efforts were recently cited in a Pioneer Press article 1/2/2007 and in the Highland Villager.
- We had the privilege of writing the "Opposing Arguments" against IRV in the Star Tribune Voters' Guide, November 2006.
- On October 25th, we spoke about the negative effects of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) at the Victory Neighborhood Lutheran Church meeting.
- We were recently featured in the Star Tribune on 9/5/06 and on 9/26/06.
- We had the opportunity to introduce our group to the Minneapolis Business Forum on February 1st and the Minnetonka Rotary on April 26th.
TBA
- We are are exploring the possibility of getting our own Minnesota Voters' Alliance weekly radio program sometime in 2008. Please check back for details!
- We plan to introduce our organization to as many political parties as possible including Independence, DFL, GOP, Libertarian, Green and Constitution parties as well as nonprofit organizations.
