Ranked-Choice Voting News Roundup - November 2024
by Staff
Welcome to our weekly news roundup, where we highlight the top stories surrounding ranked-choice voting—both opposing and supporting—throughout the nation.
Week of November 10
Electoral reform was on the ballot in several states this election. Why did these measures fail?
The Guardian | November 15, 2024
As Donald Trump and Republicans scored massive victories on election day, Americans in several states rejected ballot initiatives to curb extreme partisan gerrymandering and implement open primaries and ranked-choice voting.
Ohio voters decisively rejected a ballot measure that would have stripped lawmakers of their ability to draw electoral districts and given it to a 15-person bipartisan commission of ordinary citizens. The vote came after Republicans, who control the legislature and redistricting process, ignored the state supreme court seven times to draw districts that heavily favored Republicans.
Court strikes down Evanston’s ranked choice voting effort
Evanston RoundTable | November 14, 2024
A Cook County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday nullified the 2022 referendum that Evanston voters passed in support of a ranked choice voting system, siding with the county clerk in ruling that Illinois law prohibits ranked choice voting and that the 2022 referendum was “vague, ambiguous, and not self-executing.”
Ranked choice voting, also called instant runoff voting, allows voters to rank candidates for public office in order of preference. If a candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, that person wins the election outright. But when no candidate receives a true majority of first-choice votes, the person with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated from contention.
‘JUNGLE PRIMARY’ BALLOT MEASURES GO DOWN IN FLAMES
The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs | November 12, 2024
On Election Day, voters in six states weighed in on measures to enact either top-two, top-four, or top-five primary elections. These “jungle primaries” list all candidates, regardless of party, on the same primary election ballot. Most of the measures would also implement ranked-choice voting in the general election. Every single one was defeated.
The results are a cautionary tale for liberal groups in Oklahoma that have planned to put such a measure on the ballot here in 2026.
Ranked Choice Voting Goes Down In Flames
The Daily Wire | November 11, 2024
Last Tuesday, voters in six states decisively rejected ballot measures that would have brought ranked choice voting to future elections. In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon, RCV went down in flames. National groups spent millions on campaigns promising RCV would enhance democracy and empower the people, angling for an election day triumph. Instead, the voters handed them a rout.
Adding insult to injury, Alaska appears on track to repeal RCV after using it for just two years. Missouri, meanwhile, became the first state to ban it at the ballot box, and the eleventh state overall to bar RCV. In fact, the number of states to ban RCV more than doubled this year.
Week of November 3
Election-Integrity Advocates Celebrate Wins against Ranked-Choice Voting, Ohio Redistricting
National Review | November 6, 2024
Conservative election-integrity advocates are celebrating electoral victories against ballot measures to reconfigure statewide elections. They also ranked up wins in the fight to make elections more secure.
Voters rejected multiple ballot measures that would have enacted ranked-choice voting and open party-primary systems, some of which paired the two together. In Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota those efforts failed. Missouri also voted to prohibit ranked choice voting altogether, paired with an amendment on citizenship requirements for voting.
Ranked choice voting dealt major setback in state ballot measures
The Washington Examiner | November 6, 2024
Voters across the country weighed in on ranked choice voting ballot initiatives Tuesday, with a vast majority rejecting the system amid an intensifying debate over its effects on elections.
RCV, which allows voters to rank candidates by preference rather than selecting only one, has faced mounting opposition at both state and local levels. This year’s election results featured a mixed outcome, with state-level ballot measures predominantly failing but some cities voting to adopt or maintain RCV.
D.C. approves Initiative 83 for ranked-choice voting
Axios | November 5, 2024
D.C. has approved Initiative 83, according to the AP, so expect two big changes to local elections: ranked-choice voting and allowing independents to vote in primaries.
The big picture: Supporters of ranked-choice voting say it will press candidates to build a broader coalition of supporters and that open primaries will allow more people to have a say in key races.