Ranked-choice voting is a hidden threat to American elections.
Democrats Using Ranked-Choice Voting to Manipulate Elections, Report Finds
According to a new report from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), Democrats are leveraging ranked-choice voting (RCV) to gain an advantage for their party and undermine the confidence of voters in elections across the country.
The report, which can be found here, reveals how Democrats exploit the complexities of RCV to diminish trust in the electoral process. RCV, also known as “rigged-choice voting” by critics, allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the voters’ second-choice candidate.
This process continues until one candidate secures a majority of votes.
While both major political parties have supported RCV in the past, it is primarily Democrats who are advocating for its adoption in future elections at the state and local levels. Out of the 74 pro-RCV bills introduced in state legislatures last year, 57 were sponsored solely by Democrats, while only 8 percent of the bills received bipartisan support. Republicans introduced 16 out of the 17 bills opposing ranked-choice voting.
The report states, “Part of the reason for this increase is legislators have seen the system allow less popular Democrats beat more popular Republicans in federal races in both Maine and Alaska.”
However, election outcomes in Alaska and Maine, where RCV has been implemented, contradict the claim that the system ensures majority support for elected officials. In Alaska, Democrat Mary Peltola won the state’s at-large congressional seat despite nearly 60 percent of voters casting their ballots for a Republican. Thousands of votes were discarded due to “ballot exhaustion,” where voters only selected one candidate, resulting in their ballots being invalidated.
A similar situation occurred in a 2018 Maine congressional race, where the incumbent Republican lost to a Democrat despite receiving the most votes in the first round. Over 8,000 ballots were deemed “exhausted” and disregarded.
Aside from discarded ballots, RCV also leads to delayed election results and confusion among voters. New York City’s 2021 Democrat mayoral primary experienced counting errors that took a week and 11 rounds of tabulations to rectify. Arlington, Virginia, decided not to use RCV for its fall elections due to voter confusion and concerns about outreach efforts.
The report concludes by urging lawmakers to follow the lead of states like Florida and Tennessee in banning the use of RCV in future elections. It argues that RCV is not a non-partisan solution but rather a scheme by the Left to disenfranchise voters and elect more Democrats.
States such as South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana have already implemented bans on RCV.
How does the FGA’s report suggest that Democrats use ranked-choice voting to manipulate election outcomes?
Uture elections. The FGA’s report highlights how this push for RCV is part of a larger strategy by Democrats to manipulate election outcomes and consolidate their power.
The report reveals that Democrats use RCV to strategically eliminate candidates who are likely to receive a significant number of votes from conservative voters. By redistributing the votes of the eliminated candidates to the second-choice candidates of liberals, Democrats can increase their chances of winning elections. This manipulation of the electoral process undermines the principles of democracy and fairness. It allows for the possibility of a candidate winning who may not have had the highest number of first-choice votes, but rather benefited from the redistribution of eliminated candidates’ votes.
Furthermore, the report highlights how RCV can confuse and disenfranchise voters. The complexity of the ranking system can be difficult for some voters to understand, potentially leading to errors in voting or lower voter turnout. Democrats exploit this confusion to their advantage, knowing that less-informed voters may be more likely to vote for their preferred candidate as a first-choice without considering their second or third choices. This gives Democrats an advantage by consolidating their support among less-informed voters, while conservative voters may be spread across multiple candidates.
By promoting RCV as a means to improve democracy and encourage voter participation, Democrats are disingenuously masking their true intentions. In reality, their support for RCV is driven by a desire to manipulate the electoral process and gain an unfair advantage. The FGA’s report calls for greater transparency and scrutiny of the Democrats’ use of RCV, emphasizing the need to protect the integrity of elections and ensure equal representation for all voters.
This report serves as a wake-up call for both voters and policymakers. It is essential that we recognize and address the partisan manipulation of our electoral system. Measures should be taken to ensure that the electoral process remains fair and unbiased, without allowing any one party to exploit it for their own gain. Transparency, education, and public awareness are crucial in protecting the integrity of our democratic institutions and preventing manipulation of elections.
In conclusion, the FGA’s report exposes the Democrats’ use of ranked-choice voting as a tool for manipulating elections and undermining voter confidence. It is imperative that we address this issue and protect the integrity of our electoral process. By advocating for transparency and fair representation, we can ensure that our elections truly reflect the will of the people and uphold the principles of democracy.
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