Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Elections And Rcv topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Elections office: 2025 municipal turnout reached 55%; staff weighs RCTAB adoption and statutory hurdles for even-year change
Summary
City Elections Director Katie Smith and Deputy John Martin reported 55% turnout (about 147,700 votes) in the 2025 Minneapolis municipal election, discussed ward-level effects of redistricting, and outlined operational and statutory issues to adopt automated RCV tabulation and to shift municipal elections to even years.
City elections officials briefed the Charter Commission on the 2025 municipal election, turnout drivers, and operational issues tied to ranked-choice voting (RCV) and a potential shift to even-year elections.
Director Katie Smith and Deputy Director John Martin said Minneapolis recorded 55% turnout in 2025 — about 147,702 votes — the highest municipal turnout the city has seen in roughly 50 years. "Minneapolis had a turnout of 55% representing 147,702 votes," Deputy Director Martin said. Staff described voting methods: about 82% of ballots were cast on election day and 18% by early methods (including roughly 15,000 at the main early voting center and around 9,000 by mail). Ward-level shifts were largely attributed to redistricting that moved high-turnout precincts between wards.
Staff summarized other jurisdictions’ approaches: Saint Paul shifted to even-year elections this cycle by shortening a term and used RC TABS for tabulation; Ramsey County adopted a compact ballot layout to fit RCV with other contests on one card. Minneapolis officials said RCTAB validates their manual tabulation results but adopting it as the official tabulator would require ordinance and statutory changes, voting-system certification and collaboration with county election administrators. "Right now we're using RCTAB as a validation tool confirming the outcomes that we produce manually," Smith said.
Commissioners asked about legislative priorities to address the one-ballot-card statutory restriction, ballot design options, costs of shifting to even-year elections, and outreach to newly re-enfranchised voters. Staff said legislative change remains a priority on the city's platform; they will pursue additional analysis and report back with more detailed cost and operational estimates.
