The Instant Runoff Voting measure approved by Minneapolis voters in 2006 has survived a court challenge.

Hennepin County District Judge George McGunnigle said in a ruling (PDF) Tuesday that those opposing the alternate way of tallying votes have not shown it violates the Minnesota Constitution or goes against public policy.

In IRV, voters rank candidates in order of preference (first, second, third choices, etc.). If their favorite candidate doesn't get enough votes to be one of the top two finishers, their second choice of candidate is counted. Therefore, votes cast for less popular candidates are redistributed to more popular candidates, based on the voters' second choices, until one candidate emerges with a majority of votes.

City voters had approved the IRV measure by 65 to 35 percent.

In his decision granting summary judgment to the City of Minneapolis and Fair Vote Minnesota -- an advocacy group assisting the city in the case -- McGunnigle wrote: "...the Court finds that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that IRV causes any citizen to be deprived of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws."

He also noted in the 29-page memorandum that courts in other jurisdictions have upheld the constitutionality of IRV or similar voting methods, including Ann Arbor, Mich.; the state of Ohio; and Cambridge Mass. IRV is already used in more than a half a dozen jurisdictions around the nation, and nearly a dozen other cities are slated to use IRV in the near future. IRV has been in long-term use in foreign democracies, such as Ireland and Australia.

Jeanne Massey, executive director of FairVote Minnesota, strongly praised the judge's rejection of the IRV challenge.

"Today, Minnesota took a giant step toward better elections and a stronger democracy," Massey said.  "Judge McGunnigle unambiguously rejected the plaintiffs' arguments that IRV does not comply with the Minnesota Constitution or state elections laws and found ample grounds to support Minneapolis' use of IRV for its municipal elections. This decision clears a major hurdle to implementation in Minneapolis and also moves IRV forward in St. Paul, where the City Council voted to uphold a citizens' petition to place IRV on the ballot upon resolution of the law suit in Minneapolis."