Posted on 02/17/2023 6:33:35 PM PST by SeekAndFind
North Dakota took a major step towards securing its elections on Wednesday after the state’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed a bill banning ranked-choice voting (RCV). The move aligns with the Republican National Committee, which disavowed RCV in its January meeting.
In a 74-19 vote, North Dakota’s lower chamber approved HB 1273, which specifies that RCV “may not be used in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal elective office.” No North Dakota jurisdiction currently employs ranked-choice voting for elections, according to a local state news outlet.
Under RCV, which critics call ” rigged-choice voting,” voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of first-choice votes in the first round of voting, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and his votes are reallocated to the voter’s second-choice candidate. Such a process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes.
In addition to a ban on RCV, HB 1273 also prohibits localities from using approval voting, in which voters select as many candidates in a given race as they wish and the candidate with the most votes wins. The city of Fargo is the only North Dakota municipality that employs such a system.
“This bill was brought before [the House] to ensure that all citizens of North Dakota have their constitutional and civic rights protected by the state and not… be diluted… by the city or by the local ballot,” said bill sponsor and GOP Rep. Ben Koppelman.
The bill now heads to the state Senate, where Republicans hold a 43-4 majority.
While RCV advocates claim the system would give voters “more options” on Election Day, election results in states using RCV have yielded outcomes that clearly contradict the desires of voters. Last year in Alaska, a reliably Republican state, Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska’s at-large congressional seat despite “nearly 60 percent of voters casting their ballots for a Republican.” That outcome was due to the state’s new RCV system.
RCV also played a major role in helping Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski fend off a challenge from former President Donald Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka during the 2022 midterms. As The Federalist’s Tristan Justice previously reported, Murkowski’s allies were heavily involved in the push for Alaska to adopt RCV to bolster the incumbent senator’s reelection prospects. The system allowed her to win due to being listed second on Alaska Democrats’ ranked-choice ballots.
In addition to Alaska, Maine is currently the only other state to use RCV for its elections.
With the last place guy out, I’d still want my vote to go to the one I vote for on top. I wouldn’t want any of my “vote” to go to some second.
Only if my top person is eliminated would I consider voting for a second.
I might just want to exercise my right to abstain.
good move.
They’d better ban the use of RCV-enabled voting machines, too...
Good
Very smart move on the state’s part to avoid getting into this tangled mess.
It’s just give the left another potential way to “manipulate” the vote.
We don’t need that here in Calif. Top 2 make it to November, thereby assuring a 50% + 1 victory. Might be 2 democrats but the GOP doesn’t deserve anything here.
Remember the Murk endorsed Petola instead of Palin.
So rank choice voting may have cost Palin the seat, the Murk did played at least some part in it as well.
NO. Don’t do it!
RCV is the new progressive poison spreading through elections. Let it to places like Australia. Alaska 2022 is a clear case why it’s a scam that Republicans everywhere should oppose
Smart move. It’s totally screwed up Alaska voting. There’s movement afoot to get rid of it.
Passing a law to ban RCV is a step in the right direction but it needs to go further. Every state should add this ban to their Constitution. It’s a lot harder to change the Constitution than a simple law that can be overturned by the next legislature.
Ranked-choice voting is wrong.
This removes you voting for who you want.
Proves that the GOP isn’t stupid 24/7
Except for Turtle.
On his tombstone it will read...”Hear lies the dumbest politician EVER”
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