Capitol View: August 17, 2009 Archive

Minneapolis DFLers plan gubernatorial straw poll

Posted at 10:07 AM on August 17, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (1 Comments)

The Minneapolis DFL party announced today that it plans to hold to straw poll on the 2010 governor's race. The event is scheduled for Sept. 15 at three locations and will use ranked choice voting. Here's the news release:

Minneapolis, MN (August 17, 2009)-The Minneapolis Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party will host a Ranked Choice Voting education event on Tuesday, September 15, the day that would have been the Primary Election had Ranked Choice Voting (aka Instant Runoff Voting) not been adopted by voters in 2006. During the event, dubbed "Majority Rules: Practice in September for Ranked Choice Voting in November," attendees will rank their choices for declared and presumptive DFL governor candidates.

Majority Rules will take place simultaneously at three different locations throughout Minneapolis, each hosted by one or two local senate district units. Results will be announced at each location that night, with ballots later tallied for a city-wide result. "We want this to be a realistic kind of voting experience, so attendees feel comfortable when they go into the voting carrel on November 3," says Roann Cramer, associate chair of the Minneapolis DFL. "And the large field of DFL governor candidates is an irresistible draw for this kind of event."

The three locations for Majority Rules are: North Commons Park, 1701 Golden Valley Rd.; Tiger Sushi, 2841 Lyndale Ave. S.; and Communication Workers of America Local 7200 headquarters, 3521 E. Lake St. The event starts at 7:00 p.m. with a presentation by FairVote Minnesota on how to fill out a ranked choice ballot, then attendees will fill out their ballots, and results will be announced around 8:30 p.m. Representatives from FairVote will be present at all events to conduct education and tally ballots.

Majority Rules is free and open to the public. Proof of DFL membership or Minneapolis residency are not required to participate.

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Minnesota AFL-CIO elects Shar Knutson as president

Posted at 2:30 PM on August 17, 2009 by Tim Pugmire

The Minnesota AFL-CIO has a new leader. Union officials announced today the election of Shar Knutson as president. She'll replace Ray Waldron, who retires on Oct. 1 after nine years as president. A news release says Knutson is the first woman president of the 300,000 member labor organization.

"I am honored that our state's labor leaders have elected me to continue the mission of securing social and economic justice for Minnesota's working people," Knutson said.