The Mpls City Council yesterday voted to proceed with the plan to use Instant Runoff Voting in November. The vote, by 12-1, is the first action since a Hennepin judge in January threw out efforts to block the IRV experiment.

The Minnesota Voters Alliance, which opposes IRV and led that legal challenge, has appealed the ruling. The Minneapolis Council has asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to give the matter an accelerated review so the city will have a clean legal slate as it proceeds to November. The city is preparing a backup plan to hold a conventional election in case they don't have the green light from the courts.

Minneapolis voters approved, in a 2006 referendum, the idea of using IRV. St. Paul plans to ask its voters if they want to follow suit and FairVote Minnesota, the main organization promoting IRV has a long-range plan that it hopes will eventually lead to IRV for statewide elections.