FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 24, 2024
Bill advances despite Left-wing pressure to stop it
Arlington, VA – The Oklahoma Senate today passed legislation to ban the disastrous practice of Ranked-Choice Voting in the state, clearing the bill for Governor Kevin Stitt’s desk.
Previously passed by the House on March 13th, House Bill 3156 stipulates that “[n]o election conducted by the State Election Board, a county election board, or any municipality authorized to conduct elections in Oklahoma shall use ranked choice voting, ranked voting, proportional ranked voting, preferential voting, or instant runoff voting.”
The bill further voids any existing or future ordinance enacted or adopted by a county, municipality, or any other local government entity permitting the use of Ranked-Choice Voting, as well any election for any public office conducted under such a system.
Importantly, in order to carry out H.B. 3156 “[t]he Secretary of the State Election Board, or the President Pro Tempore of the Oklahoma State Senate and the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives jointly, shall have the authority to bring a civil action in an appropriate court.”
The Election Transparency Initiative and Heritage Action for America conducted grassroots education and outreach campaigns to help advance H.B. 3156, and each submitted letters of support to the bill’s author, Assistant Majority Whip Eric Roberts. A letter was also submitted by Honest Elections Project Action.
National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the following statement:
“We applaud Rep. Roberts and the bill’s champions for banning the Ranked-Choice Voting scheme once and for all. Make no mistake, H.B. 3156 was opposed by anti-Election Integrity forces because Left-wing megadonors are financing a nationwide campaign to promote the disastrous voting system intended to dramatically push our politics to the Left, to elevate Left-leaning politicians, and to weaken political parties to their benefit by disenfranchising voters.
“Now more than ever we need to protect the right to vote in free and fair elections voters can trust, but the Ranked-Choice Voting scheme does precisely the opposite. It is an Election Integrity wrecking ball, is never workable and should always be prohibited. Without delay, we urge the governor to help avert an epidemic of disenfranchised voters whose ballots no longer are counted fairly and equally by signing H.B. 3156 into law.”
Director of State Advocacy for Heritage Action for America Catherine Gunsalus issued the following statement:
“Oklahomans want secure elections where they know the winning candidates are the ones who earned the most votes. Ranked-Choice Voting is nothing more than a gimmick used to confuse voters and advance agendas that are not in Oklahomans’ best interest. By banning the use of Ranked-Choice Voting in state elections, H.B. 3156 provides voters with assurance that their elections have the fairest outcomes.
“Heritage Action is proud to have worked alongside grassroots Oklahomans to get H.B. 3156 across the finish line, and we applaud lawmakers’ commitment to upholding free and fair elections in the Sooner State. We hope other states follow suit to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
Executive Director of Honest Elections Project Action and Chair of the national Stop Ranked-Choice Voting coalition Jason Snead issued the following statement:
“We applaud Oklahoma lawmakers for protecting the integrity of their elections by banning Ranked-Choice Voting. Left-wing megadonors are pushing Ranked-Choice Voting in states across the country as a scheme to push our politics to the left. Ranked-Choice Voting is a sham system that makes it harder to vote, harder to tabulate results, and harder to trust democratic process. Ranked-Choice Voting is simply a disaster, which is my places all across America that try Ranked-Choice Voting go on to repeal it.
“Gov. Stitt’s election integrity task force recently recommended banning Ranked-Choice Voting in Oklahoma. That’s precisely what H.B. 3156 does. We urge the Governor to finish the job, sign this bill into law, and make Oklahoma the seventh state to ban Ranked-Choice Voting.”
Ranked-Choice Voting, also known as ‘Instant-Runoff Voting’ and ‘Preferential Voting,’ is a scheme that has made voting more confusing and difficult, reduced transparency, and put confidence and certainty at risk when implemented in public elections, with horror stories in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, New York, Utah, Virginia and elsewhere. The practice has been backed by anti-Election Integrity megadonors financing a nationwide campaign intended to dramatically push our politics to the Left, to elevate Left-leaning politicians, and to weaken political parties to their benefit.
As designed, Ranked-Choice Voting manufactures a majority winner by routinely ‘exhausting’—or throwing out—thousands of ballots so candidates need only win a majority of the remaining votes, not a majority of all votes cast.
Provided here is a comprehensive list of RCV horror stories.
Visit StopRCV.com to learn more, or view our fact sheet.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between the American Principles Project (APP) and Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, was organized to combat federal H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 legislation and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
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