| Shawn Griffiths | IVN |
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt recently signed into law a bill that bans ranked choice voting (RCV) at all levels of elections within the state. Oklahoma is the seventh state to pass a law that stops voters from exploring the alternative voting method.
The bill was approved not long after Kentucky pushed through their own ranked choice voting legislation. The other states that have banned RCV include Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Tennessee.
Momentum for the reform spreads
The emergence of RCV bans is relatively new (starting in 2022) and by no coincidence comes as momentum for the reform spreads across the US. RCV is used in red states, blue states, nearly 50 cities, and by state Republican and Democratic Parties.
Bans on RCV or other electoral and voting reforms shut down laboratories of democracy. And when lawmakers can get away with banning one type of reform, they will move to ban any other reform that might rise up in its place.