Combine large numbers of tossed-out ballots, unexpected election outcomes where candidates with a minority of overall support win, and complicated and convoluted, behind-the-scenes tabulation processes, and it's easy to see how voters are suspicious of Ranked Choice Voting elections. In the Sandy Utah mayoral election, 23,000 voters participated in the election, but only 17,000 ultimately
From the Federalist, "It’s not just tabulation problems that make RCV a conduit for upside-down election processes and results. The process subverts the will of voters by helping push out insurgent candidates who have majority support from their party’s voters for establishment-backed contenders who can’t win outright. This is how Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Even according to the liberal FairVote group pushing for Ranked Choice Voting, as many as one in three voters may only list their first choice of candidate. This means that in the event of an automated instant runoff, all of those votes are literally thrown out and have no impact on the selection of the
From the Honest Elections Project, "In 2018, incumbent Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME) lost to Democrat Jared Golden despite initially winning a plurality of first-place votes. In 2010, Don Perata won the first-place vote for mayor of Oakland, California, but ultimately lost to Jean Quan—a defeat the New York Times attributed to the 'power of finishing
Follow the money to understand why there's a push for Ranked Choice Voting across the country, According to InfluenceWatch, the organization pushing hardest for Ranked Choice Voting is funded by the likes of the Soros Family and associated foundations.
Ranked Choice Voting (sometimes called Contingency Voting) is exceedingly complicated for both voters and election officials. In this system, not only do officials "count" ballots, they are reponsible for recasting votes on behalf of voters in the automated instant runoffs. From Honest Elections Project: "Because RCV elections are so complex, identifying mistakes is far more
Once the voter fills out a ballot with multiple ranked choices, they're done with the process. All automated runoffs and remaining rounds of "voting" take place behind the scenes and out of public oversight. Voters' choices are redistributed by election officials to other candidates in one or more rounds of instant runoff cycles — all
If an automated runoff occurs because no candidate reaches a majority in the first round, and ballots of some or many voters are "exhausted (thrown out!), the winner is determined by a simple majority of remaining votes. Under this circumstance, that winner may have only achieved a minority of votes from ALL participating voters.
If a voter does not happen to rank one of the top vote-getters who become part of the automated second-stage runoff, their ballot is considered "exhausted." That's polite language meaning their original vote is thrown away, and that voter no longer has any say in the completion of the voting process.
Especially in crowded primary elections, Ranked Choice Voting is likely to "manufacture" a "majority" candidate even though voters didn't select one. Two things happen in Ranked Choice runoffs when no candidate wins a majority. Any voter who does not specify backup choices has their ballot excluded (tossed out!) in the second-stage counting process. This is