You Can File To Run For Mayor Of Minneapolis Today

MINNEAPOLIS, MN — The time for candidates to officially place their names on the ballot for the city of Minneapolis election is here, and you can be one of them. Candidates filing for municipal offices, including mayor, City Council member, Board of Estimate and Taxation member, and Park and Recreation Board commissioners, opens Tuesday, Aug. 1, and run through Tuesday, Aug. 15.

Candidates may withdraw no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17. In order to be eligible to hold elected office in Minnesota, a candidate must be eligible to vote in Minnesota, not have filed for the same or any other office on the ballot this coming election, be 21 or older upon assuming office, and have maintained residence for at least 30 days before the election.

Potential candidates must file for office in person with Minneapolis Elections and Voter Services, located in Room 201 of City Hall, 350 Fifth St. S. Elections and Voter Services is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. On both Aug. 15 and 17, the office will remain open until 5 p.m.

(For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Minnesota Patch, click here to find your local Minnesota Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

What candidates need to bring:

• A valid ID for notarization purposes.
• Payment for filing fees or petition in lieu of filing fee.

What candidates can expect when filing for office:

• If arriving on the first or last day of filing, there could be a wait.
• City officials need to verify eligibility at the time of filing.
• All paperwork needs to be completed, signed and notarized.
• Filing fees must be paid at the time of filing, or a petition must be filed at the time of filing.

The filing fees are as follows:

• Mayor: $500
• City Council member: $250
• Board of Estimate and Taxation member: $100
• Park and Recreation Board commissioner: $100

In lieu of a filing fee, candidates for municipal offices can submit a petition. The number of signatures required on the petition differs depending on the office sought. A list of the signature requirements can be found here.

Throughout the candidate filing period, the city’s election website will be updated with information about the candidate filings received to date. Once the full candidate filing and withdrawal period concludes, sample ballots will be created, according to a news release.

Those sample ballots will be available for each precinct based upon voters’ home addresses through links on the city’s website and also in the elections portion of the 311 mobile app.

In addition to filing with the city, all city candidates must also complete and file a pre-primary campaign finance report with Hennepin County by 4:30 p.m. today, Aug. 1.

This election uses ranked-choice voting

Minneapolis voters will use ranked-choice voting this fall to elect a mayor and members of the City Council, Board of Estimate and Taxation, and Park and Recreation Board. Ranked-choice voting is a way of voting that eliminates the need for separate primary elections.

Voters rank up to three candidates for each office. The ballot has three columns, and choices are made from left to right in those columns. Ranked-choice voting is used only for municipal elections in Minneapolis.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Stephan Savoia