Free Republic

Rep. Abe Hamadeh and Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) have introduced an election integrity bill in the House of Representatives to prohibit ranked choice voting in federal elections. Hamadeh’s Preventing Ranked Choice Corruption Act seeks to amend the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) to end “the confusing and disenfranchising voting scheme of Ranked Choice Voting,” a press release from Hamadeh’s office states. The undemocratic scam of Ranked Choice Voting goes against the principle of “one person, one vote,” allowing voters to rank candidates in order of preference and triggering an automatic runoff election based on the ranked totals if a candidate...

We're trying again to repeal ranked-choice voting here in the Great Land, and the process has now passed its first hurdle. The petition has been drafted, and the process of gathering signatures is starting now. In 2024, the repeal effort failed by a narrow margin - fewer than a thousand votes - despite being outspent massively by money from Outside. But there's a new team running the initiative this time, and they are taking a different approach. The second effort to repeal ranked-choice voting began its next big phase on Saturday, with the signature-gathering effort launched at the Governor’s Prayer...

West Virginia and Wyoming took major steps toward securing their elections by passing prohibitions on the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV). On Tuesday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed into law SB 490, which stipulates that “[n]o state, county, or local elections office may use ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting to conduct an election or nomination of any candidate in this state for any local government, statewide, or federal elective office.” Any “existing or future ordinance” adopted by a local government promoting the use of such a system would be declared void under the measure.Often referred to as...

Two national liberal organizations are expressing their frustration that Idaho crushed Proposition 1 by nearly 40%. Prop 1 was meant to be a turning point in Idaho for liberals. It would have implemented a California-style jungle primary by putting all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, onto one ballot. The top four vote receivers then move on to the general election, where Ranked Choice Voting determines the winner. Idahoans overwhelmingly rejected the measure despite nearly $5 million being spent to promote the false narrative that Prop 1 would have “restored open primaries.” Two groups that helped push the measure were nationwide...

Effort to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting still holds narrow lead By Liz Ruskin & Casey Grove, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage - November 6, 2024 Ballot Measure 2, the effort to repeal Alaska’s ranked choice voting and open primaries, was winning slightly as election results continued to come in early Wednesday, with about 97% of Alaska precincts counted. Wednesday results showed Ballot Measure 2 ahead by 4,289 votes, out of a total of more than 256,000 ballots cast. That’s a margin of less than 2 percentage points. The other initiative on Alaska voters’ ballots, to increase the state’s minimum...

The Idaho Supreme Court has issued an opinion that dismisses Attorney General Raul Labrador’s lawsuit against the Prop 1 ballot initiative. If enacted this November, the Prop 1 initiative would implement a “Top Four” primary process and change the general election process to Ranked-Choice Voting. Labrador, in his lawsuit, said the initiative’s organizers gathered signatures fraudulently and that the initiative violated Idaho’s “one subject” rule for initiatives. A summary of the opinion states that the lawsuit was dismissed on procedural grounds. Here is the summary, which is from court staff and not direct quotes from the opinion itself: “Today the...

In 2023, a coalition called Idahoans for Open Primaries, made up of mostly leftist groups led by Reclaim Idaho, submitted a proposed ballot initiative to impose ranked choice voting and a top four blanket primary on the state of Idaho. They decided to call it “Open Primaries” despite that moniker having nothing to do with the content of the initiative itself, likely because open primaries polls well with voters while ranked choice voting does not. The Attorney General’s office issued an opinion on the content of the proposed initiative that called out several problems: It violates the single-subject rule, presenting...

America’s founders believed direct democracy was a slower, more indirect path to tyranny. To prevent this, they avoided establishing an “elective despotism” and designed a system that filtered democracy through representative legislatures. Popular ballot initiatives didn’t exist until the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. Now, progressives use ballot initiatives to turn red states blue, including a proposal to abolish primaries altogether. What is the Republican Party’s response? As Democrats work toward creating a permanent political majority at the national level, their extremism has intensified popular backlash in nearly half the states, making them even redder. Currently, Republicans hold...

“Prop 1, the Ranked Choice Voting and Open Primaries ballot initiative, qualified to be on the general election ballot this November. If Prop 1 passes, this will be the end of the Idaho Democratic Party. The promise of Prop 1 is to allow Democrats and Independents to have a voice by choosing Republican candidates, but it also means the Republicans will be voting for Democrat candidates. This includes precinct committeemen (PCs) who elect the leadership of the Democratic Party. Imagine a concerted effort by Republicans to run for Democrat party Pc races (or maybe this is already underway). Same play...

A group of top business leaders sent a letter to President Biden Friday urging him to end his reelection campaign in the wake of his poor debate performance last week. As of Friday morning, the letter was signed by 186 people who said they were fearful about the future of the country. **SNIP** In the letter, the group said it admires the president’s decades of service and noted his legacy will be known as one that rescued democracy from a large threat. “To ensure that legacy is cemented, we ask that you pass the torch of leadership to the next...

In a recent episode of The Purple Principle, a podcast that examines democracy and polarization from a nonpartisan lens, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said that while he was skeptical of ranked choice voting at first, he now sees it as a meaningful solution to elect candidates with the broadest appeal. "I resisted ranked choice and different initiatives that would weaken the two political parties," he said. "Now I don't see it as weakening the parties as much as forcing the candidates to say, 'We've got to appeal to a broad swath of the American electorate." Many voters may not...

Imagine a Super Bowl referee bending the rules to give his favorite team the win. Few would call that fair. Yet that is precisely what the Left wants to do to America’s elections. From noncitizen voting to lawsuits inviting activist judges to rewrite our election laws, left-wing activists are taking every opportunity to change elections permanently for partisan gain. Their latest tactic is to undermine the basic principle of “one person, one vote” with a new scheme called ranked choice voting. As we speak, liberal special interests are leading a sophisticated national campaign to push ranked choice voting in nearly...

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has threatened to leave the Republican Party over the nomination of Donald Trump. Murkowski, who has long sought to undermine Trump and the wider conservative agenda, bemoaned the fact that he was once again the party’s nominee. “I wish that as Republicans, we had … a nominee that I could get behind,” Murkowski said in an interview with CNN. “I certainly can’t get behind Donald Trump.”

As Evanston prepares to become the first city in Illinois to implement ranked-choice voting in its 2025 municipal elections, the city is also set to revisit a proposed ordinance that would allow documented residents without U.S. citizenship to vote in local elections. Ald. Devon Reid (8th) introduced the ordinance at the Dec. 4 Rules Committee meeting. He said the change would increase voter turnout by allowing residents who are civically active to more fully participate in their community. “I believe it has been the march of our nation to allow more and more folks the right to vote in our...

Administrative agencies are having a direct effect on whether Alaskans who don’t want RCV can organize and get their message out to voters... Efforts to repeal ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Alaska are proving confusing, and chaotic — just like RCV itself. But a disturbing question lies just beyond the pro-RCV and anti-election lobby smoke bombs: Does the Alaskan government have a tacit hand in silencing concerned citizens? Ranked-choice voting is profoundly complicated to explain, which in itself should be a giant red flag. It is a proposed change to our voting system pushed nationwide by some Republican operatives as well...

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,”...

Since Election Day, Sarah has tweeted her displeasure with ranked-choice voting, which Alaska used both this summer in the special election and on Election Day. Last week, she signed a petition by an anti-ranked choice voting political action committee called Alaskans for Honest Government.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) requested at least 19 earmarks totaling over $60 million in the $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus bill. If the bill passes both chambers of Congress, Murkowski’s state of Alaska will be granted by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), on behalf of American taxpayers, $60,852,000 worth of pork for housing and urban development, along with infrastructure. The specifics of the many line items include: Providence Alaska-Permanent Supportive Housing for Providence Alaska Foundation ($7,500,000) Cabin Community Projects for Sitka Homeless Coalition ($1,000,000) Rehabilitation of Bering Sea Women’s Shelter for Bering Sea Women’s Group ($2,000,000) Norton Sound Health Corporation Housing for...

Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola won reelection to a full term in the House after she defeated Sarah Palin in a special election to replace Rep. Don Young in August. Peltola was the FIRST DEMOCRAT to win the House seat in solid red Alaska in 50 Years! Ranked-choice voting and mail-in ballots were implemented by referendum in 2020. The results of the November 8 election were announced Wednesday night.

Democrat Mary Peltola has won the race for Alaska’s at-large congressional seat, NBC News projected Wednesday, defeating former governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. While the election was held earlier this month, the race was not called for weeks because of Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system where voters rank the candidates in order of preference. After the first round of voting, Peltola led Palin by more than 20 percentage points, with Republican Nick Begich, a scion of one of Alaska’s most well-known political families, in third. But because Peltola failed to win more than 50 percent, the voting...