South Dakota And Montana Join States Seeking To Ban Ranked-Choice Voting

South Dakota and Montana joined the growing list of states that are working to ban ranked-choice voting (RCV), in elections.

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted Wednesday SB 55Which These are the conditions That the state’s election board “may not authorize” Political subdivisions “may not adopt or enforce” Any way “a rule, resolution, charter provision, or ordinance establishing” a ranked-choice voting system. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 31-4. It now goes to the Republican Governor. Kristi Noem will sign the bill.

“South Dakota has already spoken. It definitely doesn’t want ranked choice voting, so let’s close the door on it forever anywhere in South Dakota,” John Wiik (the bill sponsor) before the House votes on the measure. “It’s a bad fit for our small state now and forever in the future.”

Montana’s House State Administration Committee passed Monday a similar bill.HB 598), which would Prohibited The use of RCV “to determine the election or nomination of a candidate to a local, state, or federal office.” The House will now vote on the final version of the bill.

RCV lets voters rank candidates in order to preference. The voter can elect to transfer his votes to the second-choice candidate if no candidate is chosen by a majority of the voters in the first round. The process continues until one candidate has received a majority vote.

Alaska and Maine are the only states to use this system. However, RCV has produced results that have been contrary to the will of voters. Bruce Poliquin (then-incumbent GOP Rep.) was elected as Maine’s representative. Loss to Democrat Jared Golden during the 2018 midterms, despite Poliquin winning the most votes in the first round of voting — an outcome that was due to the state’s ranked-choice voting system.

Similar, Mary Peltola (Democrat) in Alaska It is possible to win The state had its at-large congressional seat last yea even though “nearly 60 percent of voters cast[] their ballots for a Republican.” RCV was also a key factor in helping Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski beat Kelly Tshibaka (ex-president Donald Trump-backed) during the 2022 Midterms. The system allowed Murkowski to win due to being List second A majority of Alaska Democrats cast ranked-choice votes.

Other than South Dakota and Montana North Dakota And Idaho They are also looking at legislation to ban ranked-choice voting in elections. The Republican National Committee Disavowed RCV at its last month’s meeting.

Shawn Fleetwood is a Staff writer at The Federalist. He is also a graduate of The University of Mary Washington. He is also the Convention of States Action’s state content writer. His work was featured in many outlets such as RealClearPolitics. RealClearHealth. Conservative Review. Follow him @ShawnFleetwood