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Beets, Neal From: Curti, Carolyn Sent: Thursday, January 08,200410:05 AM To: Beets, Neal Subject: Instant Run Off Voting Neal, Although I have no argument for or against instant run off, I do have a couple logistical concerns about implementing something for an April Special Election. Education - Instant Run Off Voting (IRV) would be a big change for voters. I think it would take a considerable education effort to bring all voters up to speed on such a voting process. Cost - The current voting machines cannot handle IRV. The Cityrecently spent $70,000 for this election equipment which should last a minimum of 10 years. Do we purchase new equipment? Accuracy - It's my understanding that the City could use the current equipment for the first choice office, but election judges would have to count the second, third, etc. choices by hand. According to Joe Mansky, the more times an election judge handles a ballot the greater the chance for counting errors. Our election judges are outstanding workers„ and I am not really concerned about this, especially in small voter turn out election. Timing - Not sure if the proposed legislative change could get through the Legislature in time for the City to prepare and print ballots. Ballots must be available by March 19 for absentee voting. Generally, Ramsey County allows a month to layout, proof and print ballots. Since this is a small election, I'm sure they could do it within two weeks, but that means the Legislature would have to approve and the Governor sign the bill by the end of February. I l�ave new phone and f� numbers - effective irnmediately Carolyn Curti Communications Specialist City of Roseville 2660 Civic Center Drive Roseville, MN 55113 651-792-7026 (phone) 651-792-7020 (fax)