{"id":1623369,"date":"2022-08-26T14:02:40","date_gmt":"2022-08-26T18:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1623369"},"modified":"2022-08-26T14:03:00","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T18:03:00","slug":"ranked-choice-voting-failed-to-make-ballot-in-missouri-but-beware-the-left-will-keep-pushing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ranked-choice-voting-failed-to-make-ballot-in-missouri-but-beware-the-left-will-keep-pushing-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranked-Choice Voting Failed To Make Ballot In Missouri \u2014 But Beware, The Left Will Keep Pushing It"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Franked-choice-voting-failed-to-make-ballot-in-missouri-but-beware-the-left-will-keep-pushing-it%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1623369&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A\u00a0multimillion-dollar effort to enact ranked-choice voting in Missouri has failed after Secretary of State John Ashcroft\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ballotpedia.org\/2022\/08\/11\/ranked-choice-voting-initiative-will-not-appear-on-the-ballot-in-missouri\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a>\u00a0the initiative will not appear on the November ballot due to an insufficient number of valid signatures submitted. The measure would have appeared as a constitutional amendment to change Missouri\u2019s election system.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.stltoday.com\/news\/local\/govt-and-politics\/who-s-behind-effort-to-change-elections-in-missouri-a-couple-from-texas\/article_71325b4d-503a-5cc9-870a-15c594fdd44c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Millions in outside funding<\/a> by Texas billionaire and former Enron executive John Arnold and his wife Laura went into getting ranked-choice voting on the ballot. Former Obama administration and Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign staffers also worked on the effort. Luckily, the initiative failed before it hit the ballot, so ranked-choice voting will not be coming to Missouri \u2014 yet.<\/p>\n<p>But the concerted effort to get Missouri to switch to a ranked-choice system is not unique to the Ozark State, Democrat and center-left activists are also pouring millions of dollars into ranked-choice voting initiatives across the country. This is strategic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStates that have gone to a ranked-choice voting system \u2014 much like states that have gone to a mail-in balloting system \u2014 trend blue,\u201d Gina Swoboda, executive director at the Voter Reference Foundation, told The Federalist. <\/p>\n<p>For anyone who needs a primer, ranked-choice voting is an electoral system whereby voters rank candidates by preference \u2014 first, second, third, and so on \u2014 on their ballots. If no one gets more than 50 percent of the first-choice\u00a0vote, then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is disqualified, and their voters\u2019 second choice picks up those votes. This process continues until one candidate scores 50 percent of the vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democrats \u2014 and establishment Republicans, for that matter \u2014 see ranked-choice voting as a way to exert more control over elections, using it as a \u201clegal\u201d mechanism to pass over candidates voters want in favor of predetermined, establishment-backed contenders. The push for ranked-choice voting then becomes just another ploy either to thwart the will of voters or turn states blue. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>States Considering R<\/strong>anked-Choice Voting<\/h2>\n<p>In\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/26\/ranked-choice-voting-is-a-nightmare-and-its-on-the-ballot-in-nevada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nevada<\/a>, residents will be voting on whether to approve a constitutional amendment for a ranked-choice voting system in November. While\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.ballotpedia.org\/2022\/04\/25\/millions-raised-to-support-ranked-choice-voting-initiatives-in-missouri-nevada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$2.26 million has been poured into the RCV campaign<\/a>, most of the funding has come from outside the state.<\/p>\n<p>In Virginia, although ranked-choice voting exists in certain <a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title24.2\/chapter6\/section24.2-673.1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">localities<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiamercury.com\/2022\/08\/16\/onevirginia2021-relaunches-as-upvote-virginia-with-new-focus-on-ranked-choice-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">multiple nonprofit advocacy groups have formed<\/a>\u00a0to establish ranked-choice voting for federal and state elections. One such group is the ostensibly \u201cnonpartisan\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairvotevirginia.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FairVote Virginia<\/a>, a local chapter of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/fairvote\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FairVote<\/a>, which is a left-wing, George Soros-funded nonprofit that seeks to eliminate the Electoral College and expand ranked-choice voting across the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>In Arizona, two nonprofit advocacy groups are seeking to put a ranked-choice voting initiative on the ballot in 2024. Voter Choice Arizona is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azmirror.com\/2021\/11\/12\/group-hopes-to-bring-ranked-choice-voting-to-arizona-cities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">focused on implementing ranked-choice voting in several cities<\/a>\u00a0while it campaigns for the 2024 ballot measure.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/tucson.com\/news\/local\/subscriber\/group-seeks-to-turn-arizonas-primaries-into-nonpartisan-elections\/article_a38f679a-0df6-11ed-b189-57ddce76ecda.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Save Democracy<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 comprised of 19 Arizonans, including\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cm.azcentral.com\/offers-reg\/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.azcentral.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Flegislature%2F2019%2F05%2F23%2Fhot-mic-captures-arizona-gop-lawmakers-frustration-colleagues-ben-toma-paul-boyer-heather-carter%2F1215365001%2F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two RINO Republicans<\/a>,\u00a0former Arizona State Sens. Paul Boyer and Heather Carter \u2014 was created by Establishment GOP figures who believe the existing primary system elevates bad candidates, A.K.A., \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/magazine\/2022\/08\/18\/trumps-man-in-arizona-might-get-the-last-laugh-00052519\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">election-deniers<\/a>\u201d who \u201cdon\u2019t appeal to the majority of voters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey need to field better candidates, make better arguments, and appeal to the people, not change the rules in order to win,\u201d Swoboda told The Federalist, arguing that Save Democracy Arizona is out of touch with GOP voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Maine<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While more than 50 jurisdictions across the United States already use or are planning to use ranked-choice voting in their next election, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairvote.org\/rcv#where_is_ranked_choice_voting_used\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to FairVote<\/a>, only Maine and Alaska use it statewide.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maine was the first state to approve ranked-choice voting in 2016. The PAC that spearheaded the campaign\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/ranked-choice-voting-part-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">received the majority of its $1 million in funding<\/a>\u00a0from two sources, the left-wing Action Now Initiative and the group Level the Playing Field.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The first year Maine used ranked-choice voting in its congressional races was 2018, and in its 2nd\u00a0District, Republican incumbent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/rollcall.com\/2018\/11\/15\/maines-bruce-poliquin-loses-in-ranked-choice-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bruce Poliquin lost to Democrat Jared Golden<\/a>\u00a0after initially winning a plurality of votes in the first count. But since Poliquin did not receive at least 50 percent of the vote, the ranked-choice voting system took over and delivered Goldman the victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Poliquin ended up filing a lawsuit in federal court challenging the system and his loss to Golden. In the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/mediad.publicbroadcasting.net\/p\/mpbn\/files\/201811\/poliquin-rcv_lawsuit.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a>, Poliquin argued that ranked-choice voting violates Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which \u201csets a plurality vote as the qualification for election to the U.S. House of Representatives.\u201d In addition, Poliquin claimed ranked-choice voting violates the constitutional principle of \u201cone person, one vote,\u201d diluting the weight of each vote and disenfranchising voters. A federal judge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2018\/12\/13\/poliquin-ranked-voting-lawsuit-2nd-district\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dismissed<\/a>\u00a0the lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Poliquin\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mainepublic.org\/politics\/2022-06-14\/maine-republicans-give-bruce-poliquin-a-shot-at-retaking-his-2nd-district-house-seat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">plans to run<\/a>\u00a0for his old seat this November, and he told The Federalist he is not worried about the effect ranked-choice voting will have on the election because voters \u201conly have to vote for one candidate and they\u2019re done. They do not have to rank candidates. There was confusion over that in the past, but not anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Alaska<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 2020, Alaska voters narrowly approved Ballot Measure 2, an initiative that established ranked-choice voting and discarded multiple party primaries, merging them all into one contest. According to Project Veritas, moderate Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski and her campaign\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-11113241\/Hidden-video-reveals-Murkowskis-campaign-worked-pass-ranked-choice-voting-Alaska.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked behind the scenes<\/a>\u00a0to get the measure passed. A staffer for the Alaska senator\u2019s reelection campaign\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.projectveritasaction.com\/news\/breaking-staffers-claim-sen-lisa-murkowski-secretly-supported-ranked-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a>\u00a0an undercover reporter for Project Veritas that ranked-choice voting is \u201ckey\u201d to Murkowski winning the 2022 midterm election as both Democrats and Republicans would likely put Murkowski as their second choice when casting their vote.<\/p>\n<p>With Murkowski\u2019s strong showing in Alaska\u2019s primary\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2022\/08\/16\/us\/elections\/results-alaska-us-senate.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">last week<\/a>, it looks like her team was correct. She won the most votes of any candidate in the nonpartisan primary,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/murkowskis-primary-win-boosts-interest-in-election-reforms-as-well-as-criticism-220243977.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">with 44 percent of the vote to Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka\u2019s 40 percent<\/a>. The rest of the vote was split among the other contenders. Without Ballot Measure 2\u2019s approval, Murkowski would\u2019ve likely lost to Tshibaka in a traditional Republican primary \u2014 proving ranked-choice voting favors more moderate, establishment-backed candidates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Out-of-State Democratic Funding<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 2020, 55 percent of Massachusetts voters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wbur.org\/news\/2020\/11\/04\/question-two-ranked-choice-voting-massachusetts-no\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rejected<\/a> an initiative that would\u2019ve established ranked-choice voting statewide. Millions in outside funding were poured into the race in favor of the measure, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonherald.com\/2020\/09\/23\/ranked-choice-voting-backed-by-rich-out-of-state-donors\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">almost $3 million<\/a> from\u00a0the left-wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/action-now-initiative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Action Now Initiative<\/a>, established by the previously mentioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/laura-and-john-arnold-foundation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">John and Laura Arnold<\/a>. Other donors\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/ranked-choice-voting-part-3\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">include<\/a>\u00a0Rupert Murdoch\u2019s daughter-in-law Kathryn Murdoch, Goldman Sachs executive Erin Mindich, George Soros\u2019s son Jonathan Soros, and Gehl Foods CEO Katherine Gehl.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Action Now Initiative\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/2020\/10\/25\/metro\/who-are-out-of-state-billionaires-backing-ranked-choice-voting-massachusetts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has also spent millions of dollars<\/a>\u00a0to bring ranked-choice voting to Maine,\u00a0Missouri,\u00a0and Alaska. It gave\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/publicreporting.elections.ny.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$1 million<\/a>\u00a0to the successful effort to bring ranked-choice voting to New York City.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Another influential donor of the voting method is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/person\/kathryn-murdoch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kathryn Murdoch<\/a>, a former Clinton Foundation employee and co-chair of the board at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uniteamerica.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Unite America<\/a>. She has donated to Hillary Clinton\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign, Pete Buttigieg\u2019s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019, the Democratic National Committee, and other Democratic congressional candidates. She was Unite America\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/capitalresearch.org\/article\/ranked-choice-voting-part-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">largest donor<\/a>\u00a0in 2019, donating $3.8 million to the political action committee. Unite America is a Democratic-aligned super PAC that backs open primary elections, expanding vote by mail, and ranked-choice voting. Like Action Now Initiative, Unite America was also a major donor to ranked-choice voting measures in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/alaskapublic.org\/2019\/11\/11\/murdoch-funded-group-gives-major-boost-to-initiative-to-overhaul-alaskas-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alaska<\/a>, Massachusetts, and New York City.<\/p>\n<p>Both organizations continue to spearhead and fund ranked-choice ballot initiatives across the country.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What It Means<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>With millions of out-of-state funding going into ranked-choice ballot measures across the U.S., it\u2019s clear the left wants the practice to become the norm for American elections. Everywhere ranked-choice voting has been enacted, it has become a \u201cdisaster electorally\u201d for Republicans, according to Swoboda. <\/p>\n<p>Ranked-choice voting then is nothing but a sinister attempt by the left and the establishment to cement control over electoral politics by pushing out voters\u2019 desired candidates in favor of predetermined choices. No matter what Democrats \u2014 or even moderates \u2014 might say about combating partisan elections, make no mistake: Switching to ranked-choice voting will disenfranchise voters and turn states increasingly blue.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Victoria Marshall is a staff writer at The Federalist. Her writing has been featured in the New York Post, National Review, and Townhall. She graduated from Hillsdale College in May 2021 with a major in politics and a minor in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @vemrshll.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A\u00a0multimillion-dollar effort to enact ranked-choice voting in Missouri has failed after Secretary of State John Ashcroft\u00a0announced\u00a0the initiative will not appear on the November ballot due to an insufficient number of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1130,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1623369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1623369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1623369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1623369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1623369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1623369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1623369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}