The Duluth City Council has rejected a plan to move forward with ranked-choice voting. It was a close vote Monday night: 5-4 after heated debate, reports the Duluth News Tribune.

The proposal had been to ask the Charter Commission to study RCV and report back in time for a possible November city referendum.

Opponents worried that the system, already in use for St. Paul and Minneapolis municipal elections, was too complicated.

The paper said the defeat riled Council President Linda Krug, who’d pushed hard for the change:

“Shame on you councilors,” she said. “I’m very disappointed that you would deny the citizens of Duluth and the charter commission an opportunity to study this issue because you don’t like it. You’ll have to sleep with that tonight.”

And Jeanne Massey, executive director of the FairVote Minnesota group that is working to implement RCV, expressed disappointed in the defeat, and said in a statement after the vote:

The evidence is there: given thoughtful voter education and a well-designed ballot, the “average voter” is absolutely capable of weighing several choices and ranking his or her three favorites on the ballot — and appreciates the chance to do that.