St. Paul voters approve moving city elections to even years

What they're saying: Peter Butler, whose petition put the issue on the ballot, told KARE 11 the change will force candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters.

• "Right now, we're getting candidates who are talking about equity, reparations, climate change, not bread-and-butter issues, like crime."

The other side: Opponents say the change undercuts a campaign's efforts to get voters to care about city issues — unless it has money.

• "What is to stop some influential billionaire, millionaire to decide that I want to manipulate the city council election?" activist Wintana Melekin told reporters before the vote.

The intrigue: It's unclear whether state law will allow St. Paul's ranked-choice voting system to appear on a presidential election ballot.

• City attorneys in Minneapolis who studied the issue in 2017 concluded this would be difficult to pull off.
• Butler has said these concerns are overblown.

How it works: St. Paul's mayoral election next year will be the last to take place in an odd-numbered year. Whoever wins would serve a three-year term.

• The current city council will serve five-year terms.