Voters have approved Amendment 7, which bans ranked choice voting. It’s an election system that lets voters rank candidates by preference, instead of choosing one winner. Candidates must receive the majority of the votes to win and to avoid a runoff election.
It’s something that Rep. Willard Haley, R-Eldon, thinks is unnecessary.
“I think that sometimes maybe the number one person might not be actually elected because the way the ranked choice voting works,” he told Missourinet. “So, I’m not a fan of that and I’m anxious for us to have it in our constitution.”
Sen. Ben Brown, R-Washington, who sponsored the proposal, said that ranked choice voting upends the ‘one person, one vote’ system that the U.S. was founded upon.
“There are countless studies that show that it causes much increased voter confusion,” he explained. “Generally, voter turnout goes down after ranked choice voting is enacted. You know, there are real world examples that show the byproducts of this system, which is really a disenfranchisement of voters.”
The constitutional amendment also clarifies that only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Missouri elections. It’s something that currently exists under federal and state law. However, Brown disagreed.
“Article 8, Section 2 of the Missouri Constitution, which states ‘all citizens of the U.S. over the age of 18 who are residents of the state are entitled to vote.’ Now, this is the language opponents are pointing to, stating that our constitution already prohibits non-citizen voting, but as you can see, nowhere is that expressly in there,” Brown said. “It sets the floor for who can vote, but it doesn’t set a ceiling.”
Copyright © 2024 Missourinet