Filing for Minneapolis city elections closed on July 21. The city is using Instant-Runoff Voting for the first time this year. The election is November 3. There will be no September primary, as there always has been in the past. See this list of candidates and their party labels. Parties don’t nominate candidates in these elections, and the candidates choose their own labels. UPDATE: here is the city elections web page, which seems to show that anyone can get on the ballot for any city office by paying a fee of $20, with no petition needed. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
Labels include Independence, Green, Libertarian, Socialist Workers, Socialist Action, Progressive, in addition to Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican.
Richard,
Will the city be using IRV for all offices, or just for Mayor?
What are the requirements to get on the ballot? I’m guessing they are pretty minimal, since some of the listed parties seem to be deliberately silly.
All city offices will use IRV. I don’t know if candidates get on by a small petition or by a filing fee, or either. Maybe someone else will help us out.
Aren’t these elections officially non-partisan?
Even if they’re not, only Socialist Action and the Progressive Party are new entities in Minnesota electoral politics.
In 2005, there were 94 candidates for the same offices. Previously, Minneapolis had used a Top 2 primary, so it was not uncommon for many candidates to file, perhaps with a hope of reaching 2nd place.
In 2005, 7 of the 13 council races had a leader who received a majority in the primary, and in 3 others the primary was not held since there were 2 or fewer candidates. In 2005, 2 of the primary leaders lost the general election, including one who received a majority in the primary.
Three candidates have withdrawn, so the candidate count for 2009 is down to 95, just one more than 2005. There appears to be absolutely no relationship between the number of candidates in a race compared to 2005, and whether the incumbent is running for re-election.
In the mayoral election and city council races (13 single-member districts) the candidate may supply a 3-word party or principle that they represent.
The Board of Equalization (2 members at large), and Park Board (3 members at large) are completely non-partisan with candidates running without party or principle.
Minneapolis will use Single Transferable Vote (STV) for all its elections, including the Board of Estimate (2 members) and Park Board (at large) 3 members. In previous elections, voters would vote for 2 or 3 persons for each of these offices, and presumably a group of candidates running as a team could have swept all seats. Though this might have been difficult since there are no party labels.