A bill prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV ) in West Virginia elections is on its way to Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s office for name. But the Republican governor is remaining dad on whether he’ll sign it into law.
Passed by the state House (87-9-4 ) on Friday, SB 490 stipulates that” ]n ] o state, county, or local elections office may use ranked choice voting or instant runoff voting to conduct an election or nomination of any candidate in this state for any local government, statewide, or federal elective office”. Any “existing or potential law” adopted by a native state promoting the use of such a program may be declared void under the estimate.
The bill cleared the state Senate ( 31-2-1 ) last Tuesday.
Often referred to as “rigged-choice election” by its critics,  , RCV , is a method in which citizens rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice seats in the first round of voting, the last-place winner is eliminated, and his votes are reallocated to the politician’s second-choice member. This process continues until one participant receives a majority of seats.
It’s unclear, yet, whether Morrisey did hint SB 490 into law. When pressed on whether he intends to sign the bill, the GOP mayor’s office did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment.
]READ: After 2024 Victories, Republicans Aim To Send’ Fatal’ Ranked-Choice Voting Into Extinction]
As The Federalist recently reported, RCV has  , primarily , been , pushed , by Democrats and has led to the , Democrat , triumph of chairs for which Democratic candidates eventually received more votes. It has also been shown to , produce , false election outcomes  , and higher rates of , discarded vote.
To further the state’s use throughout the country, RCV opponents have taken to weaponizing the vote program process in recent elections.
In the 2024 competition, for example, pro-RCV steps were on the vote in “red state” such as Idaho and Montana. Both efforts— and several other for measures— were largely defeated by voters.
It’s worthwhile mentioning that many activities backing pro-RCV vote reasons have been flooded with out-of-state black wealth.
In the case of Idaho, out-of-state , groups , with communist relationships collectively gave millions of dollars to the business supporting the 2024 RCV vote program. A similar case was also seen in Alaska, where a determine seeking to overturn the country’s RCV method was narrowly defeated by an organization strongly backed by dark money from the Lower 48.
If signed into law, SB 490 may make West Virginia the 12th state to ban the use of RCV in its votes, according to Ballotpedia.
Shawn Fleetwood is a personnel author for The Federalist and a student of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a condition content writer for Agreement of States Action and his work has been featured in various stores, including RealClearPolitics, RealClear Health, and Conservative Review. Following him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
