In November’s election, Missourians will be asked whether to ban ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank their candidates from favorite to least favorite. But the ballot question also includes language about restricting voting rights to citizens — which is already the law.
Voters will be asked this November whether to amend the Missouri Constitution to make it the 11th state to ban ranked-choice voting.
Ranked-choice voting asks voters to rank candidates from favorite to least favorite, rather than requiring them to pick only one candidate.
Maine and Alaska have adopted ranked-choice voting for some of their elections. So have cities such as New York City, Minneapolis and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
What Does a ‘Yes’ Vote Do on Missouri Amendment 7?
Approving Missouri Amendment 7 would prohibit ranked-choice or approval voting in any elections in Missouri, including the city, county, state and federal levels.
It would also add language to the Missouri Constitution to explicitly forbid noncitizens from voting in elections. But state law already prohibits noncitizens from registering to vote in any election.
Understanding Ranked-Choice Voting?
Ranked-choice voting asks voters to rank the candidates by order of preference, rather than only voting for one candidate.
The election office tallies the number of voters who selected each candidate as their top pick. If no candidate wins the majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated to the candidate individuals who voted for them ranked as their second choice. This process repeats until one of the candidates has a majority.
In the end, a candidate can only win the election if the majority of voters preferred them over their opponents.
Does Anyone Currently Use Ranked-Choice Voting in Missouri?
The city of St. Louis voted to implement approval voting in 2020 for citywide primary races. St. Louis is exempted from the constitutional amendment and will continue to use approval voting on local races regardless of whether Missouri Amendment 7 is approved.
What Are the Advantages Of Ranked-Choice Voting?
Proponents of ranked-choice voting and approval voting argue that they force candidates to more closely represent the views of voters.
The process works well in primaries where there can often be three or four candidates on the ballot. Without ranked-choice voting, individuals might really like one candidate, but if they’re not sure if that person can win, they might vote for their second or third pick because they think that option is more realistic.
With ranked-choice voting, you can still vote for your favorite candidate, without totally throwing your vote away. Depending on how the initial vote turns out, your second or even third-place vote could also play into the final result of the election.
An example of how ranked-choice ranking could have helped in Kansas City was in the recent Jackson County Prosecutors Democratic primary. There were three candidates in the race and two of them were Black women. Afraid that the two Black women would split the vote and the third candidate – a White male – might end up winning, there was a lot of pressure to unify behind one of the Black female candidates.
With ranked-choice voting, voters could have supported their favorite Black female candidate as their first choice and the other Black female candidate as their second choice. Even if the White male candidate had the most votes in round one, the votes for the Black female who came out on the bottom would roll to the other Black female
Ranked-choice voting has historically favored moderate candidates who appeal more broadly to voters. In Alaska, ranked-choice voting helped get more centrist versus extreme candidates elected. With ranked-choice voting, in the 2022 general election, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was able to win reelection, despite being censured by the Alaska Republican Party for voting to convict former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial.
What are the Arguments Against Ranked-Choice Voting?
Byron Keelin, the president of Freedom Principle MO, opposes ranked-choice voting and will be voting for Amendment 7.
One reason is because he finds ranked-choice voting too confusing for voters.
One study from the University of Pennsylvania found that ranked-choice ballots were more likely to contain marking errors than traditional single-choice ballots. Some of those ballots could still be counted.
Another argument is cost. If Amendment 7 fails and a later vote authorizes ranked-choice elections, counties would need to update voting machines.
Keelin also argued that ranked-choice voting can allow interest groups to manipulate voters into supporting candidates who otherwise would not be able to win.
Keelin cited the Murkowski vote as an example of this manipulation.
Keelin believes that ranked-choice voting was an effort by special interest groups to cheat Alaska Republicans out of a more right-leaning candidate.
Who is Campaigning on Either Side of Missouri Amendment 7?
Freedom Principle MO, Keelin’s group, is campaigning to vote yes on Missouri Amendment 7, as is the Liberty Alliance, a Kansas City-based conservative group.
Better Ballot KC, which advocates for ranked-choice voting in Kansas City, opposes Missouri Amendment 7. A campaign committee called Preserve Local Elections also opposes the amendment.
The Voice editor Bonita Gooch contributed to this story