To ensure secure and honest elections, Texas’ House Speaker should support the bill that prohibits ranked-choice voting.

Will Texas Ban Ranked-Choice Voting?

The fate of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Texas rests in the hands of House Speaker Dade Phelan. The Texas Senate passed SB 921 in March, which would prohibit preferential voting and require candidates to receive a majority vote to be elected to public or political party office. The measure received bipartisan support, but has since been stalled in the House Committee on Elections.

What is Ranked-Choice Voting?

RCV allows voters to 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 their votes are reallocated to the voter’s second-choice candidate. This process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes.

While Maine and Alaska are the only two states to employ RCV so far, their respective elections since implementing the system have produced outcomes that clearly contradict the desires of voters. In Maine, then-incumbent GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin lost to Democrat Jared Golden during the 2018 midterms, despite Poliquin winning the most votes in the first round of voting. Similarly, in Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola won the state’s at-large congressional seat last year even though “nearly 60 percent of voters [cast] their ballots for a Republican.”

Why Ban Ranked-Choice Voting?

RCV has been criticized for being a “rigged-choice voting” system that reduces transparency and puts voter confidence and certainty at risk. Various localities that have adopted RCV have also experienced confusing and even inaccurate election outcomes. In an Oakland school board race, for instance, “election officials announced — two months after the fact — that they got the count wrong,” resulting in the “rightful winner … suing for his seat.”

SB 921 sponsor and GOP Sen. Bryan Hughes did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment. If the bill does not pass the House by May 29, legislative efforts to ban ranked-choice voting in Texas elections will be stymied for another two years.

What is House Speaker Dade Phelan’s Stance?

When pressed for comment on whether Phelan intends to use his position as speaker to help pass SB 921 and whether he supports RCV, Phelan’s press secretary, Cassi Pollock, declined to comment on the matter, writing, “Our office does not have a comment.”

It’s worth mentioning that Phelan received a substantial amount of support from House Democrats during his bid for speaker in 2021. Despite Republicans holding a majority in the chamber, Phelan selected Democrats to chair 13 of the House’s 34 committees. During this year’s session, Phelan reduced the number of Democrat committee chairs to eight following backlash from Texas conservatives.

“It’s deeply disappointing that the Speaker would continue to stall this bipartisan legislation needed now more than ever to protect free and fair Texas elections,” said Ken Cuccinelli, chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative. “As the legislature nears adjournment … we urge the Speaker to allow consideration without delay.”

States That Have Banned Ranked-Choice Voting

• Florida
• Tennessee
• South Dakota
• Idaho
• Montana

It remains to be seen whether Texas will join this list or become the next state to embrace ranked-choice voting.

About the Author: Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff Writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood.