Fairvote joins IRV Lawsuit

FairVote Minnesota to Intervene in Lawsuit against Instant Runoff Voting

Minneapolis, MN (July 31, 2008) - Today, FairVote Minnesota, the organizational anchor of the Saint Paul Better Ballot Campaign, announced that it will seek to intervene as a defendant in an on-going lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of instant runoff voting (IRV). In 2006, Minneapolis voters and its City Council authorized the use of IRV in city elections, with implementation planned for 2009. The lawsuit that FairVote Minnesota seeks to join opposes IRV in Minneapolis and was brought by a small group of activists who support the return of partisan local elections.

"Joining this lawsuit as a co-defendant is the most logical and efficient manner for us to resolve the constitutional question," said FairVote Minnesota Board member and Saint Paul IRV Campaign Coordinator, Ellen Brown. "We will help dismantle the St. Paul City Council's cover for blocking this important reform."

Both the plaintiffs and the City of Minneapolis have indicated that they will support the intervention request.

"Intervention is the right of a third party when it feels it can be of assistance to the court in arriving at a just decision," said former Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi attorney and FairVote Minnesota board chair, Tyrone Bujold. "Our plea will be to expedite the case so a decision can be reached as soon as possible."

On July 2, the St. Paul City Council blocked a certified petition submitted by more than 7,000 voters. The petition would have placed a charter amendment on the ballot this November to authorize use of IRV in future municipal elections. The block was justified in the eyes of the Council leadership based on a city attorney opinion that raised questions of constitutionality. After blocking the initiative, the Council voted unanimously to put the measure on the ballot once the constitutionality of IRV is resolved in the Minneapolis case.

The St. Paul Campaign does not believe the Council may legally block petition initiatives except in cases of "manifest unconstitutionality." "The Council, with the exception of Ward 6 member Russ Stark, had chosen to interpret the muddled attorney opinion as providing legal cover for their action. In doing so, the St. Paul Campaign believes that the Council has overstepped its legal authority," said Brown. The St. Paul Campaign considered suing the City to force a court interpretation of "manifest unconstitutionality" but decided this route was not likely to produce a decision in time to allow for sufficient voter education before the 2008 election, and might not have resulted in a definitive conclusion to the matter.

James Dorsey of the Fredrikson & Byron law firm and Keith Halleland of the Halleland, Lewis, Nilan and Johnson law firm will serve as lead co-counsel in the matter. Assistance will be provided by Jay Benanav, Alan Weinblatt, Weinblatt and Gaylord; Steve Kelley, Humphrey Institute Center for Science, Technology, and Public Policy; David Schultz, Hamline University; Tyrone Bujold, FairVote MN chair; Aaron Street, Center for Law and Politics; Gena
Berglund, National Lawyers Guild; Cecily Hines, retired attorney; Andrea Rubenstein, attorney at law; and Teresa Ayling, Mansfield, Tanick and Cohen P.A.; and Jane Prince, attorney at law.


FairVote Minnesota
PO Box 19440
Minneapolis, MN 55419-0440
info@FairVoteMN.org
(763) 807-2550