Voter wonders, did my first choice on the ballot count?

By Lora Pabst

A Minneapolis resident only wanted to vote for his first choice this morning, but now his friends are raising questions about what happened to his vote. He asked an election official at his Uptown polling place if he could vote for only choice and she said yes. But a friend told him that his vote was probably thrown out. Another friend said that his vote would be counted if his candidate won, but not if there was a need to look at voters' 2nd and 3rd choices.

He wrote to Whistleblower for some clarification:

"So, I don't think people are understanding 1) whether one can vote for just one candidate or not; and 2) under what circumstances it would be necessary to look at voters' 2nd and 3rd choices."

The short answer is that both of his friends are wrong. His vote counted no matter what the circumstances. You can vote for your first choice in any race - whether it's a single-seat or multi-seat race.

In a single-seat race, election officials will look at voters' second and third choices if one candidate doesn't secure enough votes for a victory. If you didn't select a second or third  candidate, your first selection is still counted. But if your first choice received the fewest number of votes and you forfeited your second and third choices, you won't have a say after your first choice is eliminated.