{"id":2413856,"date":"2025-03-19T12:08:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/west-virginia-wyoming-prohibit-ranked-choice-voting-in-elections\/"},"modified":"2025-03-19T12:08:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T16:08:01","slug":"west-virginia-wyoming-prohibit-ranked-choice-voting-in-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/west-virginia-wyoming-prohibit-ranked-choice-voting-in-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"West Virginia, Wyoming Prohibit Ranked-Choice Voting In Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/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%2Fwest-virginia-wyoming-prohibit-ranked-choice-voting-in-elections%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=2413856&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 class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Ballot-box-2.jpg\">Isabela.Zanella\/Wikimedia Commons\/<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/deed.en\">CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/west-virginia-wyoming-secure-elections-with-ranked-choice-voting-prohibitions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=West%20Virginia,%20Wyoming%20Secure%20Elections%20With%20Ranked-Choice%20Voting%20Prohibitions&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/west-virginia-wyoming-secure-elections-with-ranked-choice-voting-prohibitions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=West%20Virginia,%20Wyoming%20Secure%20Elections%20With%20Ranked-Choice%20Voting%20Prohibitions&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/west-virginia-wyoming-secure-elections-with-ranked-choice-voting-prohibitions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/west-virginia-wyoming-secure-elections-with-ranked-choice-voting-prohibitions\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=West%20Virginia,%20Wyoming%20Secure%20Elections%20With%20Ranked-Choice%20Voting%20Prohibitions&amp;body=GOP%20governors%20of%20West%20Virginia%20and%20Wyoming%20signed%20bills%20on%20Tuesday%20prohibiting%20the%20use%20of%20ranked-choice%20voting%20in%20their%20states'%20elections.%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/03\/19\/west-virginia-wyoming-secure-elections-with-ranked-choice-voting-prohibitions\/\" target=\"_blank\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>West Virginia and Wyoming took major steps toward securing their elections by passing prohibitions on the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV). <\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey signed into law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvlegislature.gov\/Bill_Status\/bills_history.cfm?INPUT=490&amp;year=2025&amp;sessiontype=RS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SB 490<\/a>, which stipulates that &ldquo;[n]o state, county, or local elections office may use ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting to conduct an election or nomination of any candidate in this state for any local government, statewide, or federal elective office.&rdquo; Any &ldquo;existing or future ordinance&rdquo; adopted by a local government promoting the use of such a system would be declared void under the measure.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2 d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1427710831\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1463670073398-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Often referred to as &ldquo;rigged-choice voting&rdquo; by its critics,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ranked-choice-voting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">RCV<\/a>&nbsp;is a system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes in the first round of voting, the last-place finisher is eliminated, and his votes are reallocated to the voter&rsquo;s second-choice candidate. This process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes.<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist previously reported, RCV has produced&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/09\/01\/sarah-palin-should-blame-lisa-murkowski-for-her-special-election-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat<\/a>&nbsp;victories in races for which Republican candidates&nbsp;initially&nbsp;received more votes, outcomes which likely contribute to numerous leftist officials&rsquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/10\/31\/ranked-choice-voting-is-the-monster-under-the-bed-of-american-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">support<\/a> for the system. RCV has also generated&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/17\/minnesota-could-be-third-state-to-adopt-ranked-choice-voting-following-alaska-and-maine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">inaccurate election results<\/a>&nbsp;and has been shown to lead to high rates of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/06\/watch-how-ranked-choice-voting-complicates-elections-and-disenfranchises-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">discarded ballots<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Further out West, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon also signed legislation (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyoleg.gov\/Legislation\/2025\/HB0165\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HB 165<\/a>) on Tuesday prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting in Cowboy State elections. Similar to the West Virginia bill, the Wyoming law declares that &ldquo;[a]ny existing or future ordinance enacted or adopted by a county, municipality or any other governmental entity that purports to authorize ranked choice voting &hellip; is void.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The passage of both bills into law makes West Virginia and Wyoming the 12th and 13th states to <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Ranked-choice_voting_(RCV)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">prohibit<\/a> the use of ranked-choice voting in their elections.<\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ: <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/01\/10\/from-citizenship-requirements-to-banning-zuckbucks-wyomings-elections-chief-pushes-bold-2025-agenda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">From Citizenship Requirements To Banning &lsquo;Zuckbucks,&rsquo; Wyoming&rsquo;s Elections Chief Pushes Bold 2025 Agenda<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HB 165 wasn&rsquo;t the only election integrity-related bill signed into law by Gordon, however. <\/p>\n<p>The GOP governor also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyomingpublicmedia.org\/politics-government\/2025-03-18\/wyoming-bans-sanctuary-cities-and-ranked-choice-voting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed<\/a> measures on Tuesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyoleg.gov\/Legislation\/2025\/HB0318\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">granting<\/a> the Wyoming secretary of state greater access to tools to identify potential noncitizens on the voter rolls and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyoleg.gov\/Legislation\/2025\/HB0228\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">barring<\/a> the acceptance and offering of private money to conduct elections. The latter bill is seemingly aimed at preventing the type of &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/10\/12\/the-2020-election-wasnt-stolen-it-was-bought-by-mark-zuckerberg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Zuckbucks<\/a>&rdquo; interference that plagued numerous states in the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/electionbriefing.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">electionbriefing.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">   Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Shawn Fleetwood<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShawnFleetwood\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\">@ShawnFleetwood<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/shawnfleetwood\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/mark-gordon\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Mark Gordon<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/patrick-morrisey\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Patrick Morrisey<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/ranked-choice-voting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">ranked-choice voting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rcv\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">RCV<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rigged-choice-voting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">rigged-choice voting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/voting\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">voting<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/west-virginia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">West Virginia<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/wyoming\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Wyoming<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image Credit Isabela.Zanella\/Wikimedia Commons\/CC BY-SA 4.0 Share Share Article on Facebook Share Article on Twitter Share Article on Truth Social Copy Article Link Share Article via Email West Virginia and Wyoming took major steps toward securing their elections by passing prohibitions on the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV). On Tuesday, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2413857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Voting.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2413856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Voting.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413856","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\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2413856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2413856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2413857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2413856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2413856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2413856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}