Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed legislation Tuesday prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in elections.
SB 101 stipulates that a “ranked-choice voting or instant runoff voting method shall not be used in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal elective office in this state.” The bill would not apply to “all votes cast by military and overseas voters by special absentee by mail ballots in accordance with the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.”
SB 101 originally passed the Senate in a 29-9 vote in March. An amended version of the bill was passed by the House (73-23) on May 15 and subsequently concurred with by the Senate (29-8) last week.
SB 101 was sponsored by GOP Sen. Blake Miguez, a member of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus. Miguez also sponsored Louisiana’s recently enacted constitutional amendment banning “Zuckbucks.”
Under RCV, 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’s second-choice candidate. This process continues until one candidate receives a majority of votes.
RCV has caused an array of problems in the states and municipalities where it’s been implemented. Among the most significant are inaccurate election outcomes. In an Oakland school board race, for example, “election officials announced — two months after the fact — that they got the count wrong,” resulting in the “rightful winner … suing for his seat.”
The system has also
