When in my 20’s and more idealistic (and less realistic), my Dad and I had a political discussion in which the word “choice” came up. I believed that people should be able to make their own choice about what to do with their own body. My Dad believed that the “choice” was about life or death, which I disagreed. I later realized that I was the one that was incorrect, and the “choice” was really only valid if one side was chosen. The proponents of the “choice” movement really did not want people to truly have a choice at all.
This brings me to Ranked Choice Voting. With this model, primaries like we have in Oklahoma would no longer exist. Voters would need to rank preferences of candidates on their ballot. After all votes are tallied, the candidate with the lowest ranking is dropped from the ballot. The votes are tallied again, until only one candidate remains.
This model essentially takes out the voter’s ability to re-evaluate their candidates' position as they would in a traditional runoff election. In runoff elections, we often get to see what candidates believe about issues that are important to us that we would not see in the first election. The ability to re-evaluate candidates with the highest percentage of votes is taken away from the voter.
Representative Eric Roberts has authored HB3156, a voting system that prohibits use of the terms “ranked choice voting, ranked voting, proportional ranked voting and preferential voting.” As shown previously, word choice definitely matters. There are a number of ways to utilize Ranked Choice Voting, so if any of these terms are used, that voting method would be invalid.
With Ranked Choice Voting, the “choice” is essentially taken out of the voters’ hands and placed with vote counters who could manipulate elections. We have all seen this happen in other states, and Oklahoma already has one of the best voting systems in the country. HB 3156 would ensure that the traditional primary method of voting with runoff elections would be preserved as has been in Oklahoma since statehood.
I think we all agree that keeping election integrity is important to all of us, and this bill goes a long way to ensure elections are kept in the voter’s hands. Right now, the bill has passed the house with overwhelming support and has had the first reading in the senate. We at COS Oklahoma urge you to call your senator to urge them to vote for this important legislation.
Kevin Tutty is Legislative Liaison Team Lead for Convention of States Action Oklahoma
