ST. LOUIS — Five states have banned ranked choice voting in the last two months, bringing the total number of Republican-leaning states now prohibiting the voting method to 10.

Missouri could soon join them.

If approved by voters, a GOP-backed measure set for the state ballot this fall would amend Missouri’s constitution to ban ranked choice voting.

  • nocturne@sopuli.xyz
    201·
    6 months ago

    From Time.com

    What is ranked-choice voting?

    Ranked-choice voting is an electoral system that allows people to vote for multiple candidates, in order of preference. Instead of just choosing who you want to win, you fill out the ballot saying who is your first choice, second choice, or third choice (or more as needed) for each position.

    The candidate with the majority (more than 50%) of first-choice votes wins outright. If no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, then it triggers a new counting process. The candidate who did the worst is eliminated, and that candidate’s voters’ ballots are redistributed to their second-choice pick. In other words, if you ranked a losing candidate as your first choice, and the candidate is eliminated, then your vote still counts: it just moves to your second-choice candidate. That process continues until there is a candidate who has the majority of votes.

    • MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net
      12·
      6 months ago

      Pretty straightforward to me. But grandma gets confused, so we can’t possibly implement it.

      /s because it’ll probably be needed

      • deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz
        8·
        6 months ago

        That is literally the problem. People resistant to change (willfully or not) don’t want RCV.

        No /s required.

        Where I live we have RCV for some local government stuff but central government voting is MMP, which works quite well (except in the opinion of our conservatives). TL;DR: you vote for a candidate and also for a party. The party vote essentially sets how many seats each party gets in parliament, the candidate vote is for who represents your electorate.

      • bolexforsoup@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        3·
        6 months ago

        I just don’t get the issue though. It doesn’t really matter if they understand the intricacies. Simply list the candidates in order of preference and let it play out.

        Most people don’t even understand how our current electoral system works but they don’t seem to be raising a stink about it lol

        • MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net
          1·
          6 months ago

          Most people don’t even understand how our current electoral system works but they don’t seem to be raising a stink about it lol

          And many of the ones that have no clue think they understand. But regardless, the entire concept of American Exceptionalism that gets hammered into us from birth means that whatever we have now is “the right way.” Changing things challenges that concept, which many have internalized as part of their core identity. Which… gestures vaguely at the overall political landscape …yeah.

          • bolexforsoup@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            2·
            6 months ago

            They don’t like the fact that they have lost all but one popular vote in the last 30 years. 1988 and 2004 (barely) were the last 2 popular votes they won. They can’t win unless they stack the deck and keep the electoral college.