Voters in Minneapolis approved a change in the City Charter to permit implementation of an Instant Runoff Voting system. The vote was 65% in favor of the measure, versus 35% opposed.
The following question appeared on the General Election Ballot in Minneapolis yesterday.

A PROPOSAL TO USE INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS ELECTIONS

Should the City of Minneapolis adopt Single Transferable Vote, sometimes known as Ranked Choice Voting or Instant Runoff Voting, as the method for electing the Mayor, City Council, and members of the Park and Recreation Board, Library Board, and Board of Estimate and Taxation without a separate primary election and with ballot format and rules for counting votes adopted by ordinance?
O Yes
O No

Vote for the candidate of your choice, or
vote against the candidate you are afraid might win

The Two Party System

For years the United States has operated under a de facto two-party system, or so it seemed. It was Democrats versus Republicans. It was Ike v. Stevenson, Kennedy v. Nixon, Johnson v. Goldwater. Of course, there were famous third party candidates such as Teddy Roosevelt and his “Bull Moose Party” which split the Republican vote and helped Woodrow Wilson win in 1912, but people think of the States as operating under a two party model for the most part. (Imagine if Roosevelt had won. Would the Pont Wilson now be the Pont Bull Moose?)

As a child, I remember being very surprised to see the sample ballot that my parents received in the mail. It wasn't just Kennedy v. Nixon, there was actually a Communist and a Socialist Worker Party candidate for president. There were more than two candidates, and one was a Communist at that. In a post-McCarthy era, how could a sworn enemy of the nation and the church actually dare to run for president? Those candidates didn't advertise on TV and they typically got less than one percent of the popular vote.

The first third party presidential candidate that I recall having a serious impact on the presidential election was John Anderson in the 1980 contest between President Carter and Ronald Reagan. He garnered 6.6% of the popular vote nationwide, but no electoral votes since voting is not proportional. Reagan actually won over 50% of the popular vote so my vote for Anderson did not affect the outcome. It was the proverbial “landslide”.

Third party candidates were not seriously expected to win elections. Although they most likely had the best of intentions, they sometimes served as “spoilers” who took votes away from one or the other main party candidates as was the case with Teddy Roosevelt.

Ce n'est pas si compliqué qu'à Miami, mais ce n'est pas comme à Tours, non plus!

par Ed Coughlin


Comment expliquer nos élections aux Français?

D'abord, je vous propose de consulter le document qui s'intitule « ballot » ou bulletin de vote. Cela vous donnera une petite idée des choix présentés aux électeurs de ma circonscription à Minneapolis le 7 novembre. A part des élections primaires et, dans quelques villes américaines, des élections municipales, nos élections ont lieu le premier mardi, après le premier lundi, de novembre. Ce n'est pas un jour férié, mais parfois des employeurs accordent une absence d'une heure ou deux.

Le bulletin, cela fait penser à une carte dans un restaurant, et cette année il faudra prendre du temps pour faire les choix. Vous n'êtes pas obligés de tout manger, mais vous allez voir que dans un cas, le choix de ne pas répondre est l'équivalent de voter « non » sur la question. En tout cas, si vous commandez ou pas, vous devez avaler les plats, avec ou sans plaisir le premier janvier. Ah oui, les élus qui ne sont pas réélus, deviennent des « lame ducks » entre le 8 novembre et le 31 décembre.

October was colder than average by about 2° F (1° C). We also had several days where we saw a bit of snow. Today I saw those snowflakes again. There were very few of them in Minneapolis, but the sky was grey, and, even worse, the wind was strong. It was a blustry, winter-like day.

In the summer we talk about the "dewpoint" as a measure of discomfort. The dewpoint is the temperature at which humidity will actually become drops of water. It works better than just making reference to the relative humidity. If it's 70° F (21°C) with a 65° (18°) dewpoint, it's uncomfortable. It's just too humid. In addition, it's too cool to turn on the airconditioning.

At some point this weekend we left summer behind and entered winter. We are in the season of "windchill". The daytime high today was around 35° (2°) but the windchills were in the 20's (-6°). It's too soon for it to be this cold; but; what does my opinion matter. Actually, with all the cold weather I didn't notice that we had almost no rain.

Jean-Charles asked me to encapsulate the Rose experience in France into a short article. Trying to reduce this incredible trip into a “hi-lite” style brief is going to be a real challenge.

I think the best word that describes our experience in France is charm. The people were charming, the countryside, the buildings, the streets, the restaurants and of course, the food, was charming.
The restaurant Le Martin Blue in Tours was certainly a highlight. It was an easy walk from our hotel. The owner treated us like family and it became a regular hangout for the Rosies. In fact, the restaurant walls were covered with paintings by a relative of the owner and Ginna was so taken with the paintings that they gave her one and she managed to meet the painter just before we left for Paris.
The town of Candes was an amazing experience for us. You see picture books of photographs of beautiful little places in France and you assume they must have traveled all over the country to find enough shots to fill a book. I could have filled a book the size of a dictionary in Candes.