Alexandria, VA — CPAC released the following statement on Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger’s attempt implement the failed Ranked Choice Voting System.
“Georgia’s legislature enhanced their election laws to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. As a result, all elections this cycle saw high turnout for both parties. In his vain attempt to garner attention from the media and the socialist left, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is looking to disenfranchise voters by making it harder and more confusing to vote by seeking to change the Georgia voting system to Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).
“Replacing a proven and effective voting system for no good reason other than to wield power over the people is disingenuous and wrong.
“Ranked choice voting is wrought with issues. RCV is confusing to the average voter which leads to less voter participation, especially in off year or non-marquee races. RCV is a much more arduous process to tabulate delaying the final results for days and even weeks.
“When all legal votes are counted and each voter is given one choice and one vote, our system works. Secretary Raffensperger is looking to take the place of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney as the “Republican” darling of the left. He should instead do his job by seeking ways to increase voter turnout, not suppress the vote by implementing an onerous process that only hurts the people he was elected to serve.
“CPAC calls on Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia legislature to reject Secretary Raffensperger’s attempt to upend Georgia’s successful election reforms by implementing the failed Ranked Choice Voting System.”
When Maine Congressman Bruce Poliquin lost his election in 2018 due to RCV he stated, “It is now officially clear I won the constitutional ‘one-person, one-vote’ first choice election on Election Day that has been used in Maine for more than one hundred years.” Poliquin’s legitimate frustration with RCV will be echoed by countless others if the practice is expanded into more states.
The obvious truth is that RCV is complicated, difficult to understand, and relies on a counting process shrouded in mystery. Just look at the recent news from Alaska. On Election Day, more Alaska voters opted for a Republican to represent them in the U.S. House.
Then two weeks later — following Alaska’s RCV protocols — a liberal Democrat was re-elected because the conservative vote was split between two candidates. How could a state that Donald Trump carried by 10 points send a left-wing Democrat to Congress? Along with ignoring the will of the people, RCV’s opaque and multifaceted counting process paves the way for more distrust in the system.
