Democracy isn’t on the ballot, but ranked-choice voting is
by Harry Roth
Since 2022, ten states have banned ranked-choice voting: Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, South Dakota, Montana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This year, pro-RCV groups have spent millions of dollars to get initiatives on the ballot in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and DC. Their plan is to bypass state legislatures and use their deep pockets to deceive voters into supporting their broken scheme. Similar initiatives failed to collect enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in other states.
In Maine and Alaska, the two states that now use RCV, voters approved it through a ballot measure. The Alaska measure included campaign finance reform language to make it more appealing to voters. Alaskans will vote on whether to repeal it this November. Initiatives to ban ranked-choice voting will also appear on the ballot this year in Missouri and Arizona.
Throughout its history, ranked-choice voting has struggled to gain traction when considered in state legislatures. Bills in blue states like Minnesota, Rhode Island, Washington, and Maryland died in committee earlier this year with little fanfare. It's even been vetoed twice in California by two different Democratic governors.
It’s clear that RCV ballot measures are nothing more than desperate attempts to avoid deliberation and saddle states with an election process that is often rejected after it's tried. We'll find out in November if voters see RCV for what it really is: a confusing scheme that makes voting harder and elections less transparent.