(John Ransom, Headline USA) As part of a raft of recent election-integrity reforms, the free state of Florida has banned the controversial practice of ranked-choice voting.
Democrats nationwide have been pushing the policy as yet another a means to drown out the opposition and create mass chaos in polling places.
This douche is quickly rising to the top of top douche 😠 – DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Ranked-Choice Voting Option for All of Florida https://t.co/FXLmtb3KCH via @truthout
— Peter Sabol (@petersabol) April 27, 2022
Senate Bill 524 specifically said it was “prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting to determine election or nomination to elective office; voiding existing or future local ordinances authorizing the use of ranked choice voting,” reported WPTV5.
The provision would prohibit ranked-choice voting not just for Florida offices, but also for use in municipal and other elections.
Previously, the cities of Sarasota and Clearwater had made plans to use ranked-choice voting, but the new law will supersede the municipal ordinances.
Among the places where ranked-choice voting is now in place is New York City, where it promises to create disasterous consequences alongside the city’s other policies such as mail-in voting and a measure that allows illegal immigrants and other noncitizens to vote in local elections.
Ranked choice voting is a method by which voters select candidates in order of preference rather than just selecting one candidate.
If a single candidate fails to get a majority, the votes of the last place vote-getter go to their next preferences. That process continues until one candidate receives a majority, said Ballotopedia.
The problem, however, is that the farther one goes down on the voting ballot, the more marginal the candidates become, which gives voters who support marginal candidates a greater influence on the outcome of an election.
And it encourages marginal candidates to run for office knowing their voters will ultimately help decide the contest.
But it could also backfire with cries of cheating if progressives don’t see immediate gains.
For example, former President Bill Clinton likely would have lost 1992 election, in which he received a plurality of votes after Reform Party spoiler Ross Perot split the GOP ticket, drawing votes away from incumbent President George H.W. Bush, noted a letter to the Wall Street Journal.
The practice also threatens to undermine conservatives’ efforts to oust RINO Lisa Murkowski in her upcoming re-election bid after the state of Alaska approved it.
Even if Murkowski is defeated in the GOP primary by Trump-backed candidate Kelly Tshibaka, under the new rules she may still be eligible to appear as a Republican on the general-election ballot without having to stage a write-in campaign, which she previously did following a primary defeat.
