Today we want to compliment Idaho for and taking our advice.
What the wise Idaho legislature and governor did was join Florida, South Dakota and Tennessee in banning what can be described as "Rigged Choice Voting" in any election held in the state.
Idaho has thereby reaffirmed the constitutional principle of one-man-one-vote.
And the commonsense principle of don’t let leftist outsiders "reform" your elections.
The term you hear most in connection with this "reform" is "Ranked-Choice" voting, also referred to as "Instant Runoff" voting.
The system is pushed by purportedly non-partisan election busybodies, who are in reality funded by and staffed by leftists.
What’s more, all the selling points in connection with the "reform" are lies.
More here, in an earlier column on the subject.
As we say in that 2022 column, "Boosters of ranked choice voting promote the change with feel-good promises that are mostly immune to verification. As the League of Women Voters demonstrates.
"According to that hen party ranked choice 'promotes majority support . . . discourages negative campaigning . . . provides more choice . . . minimizes strategic voting . . . [and] saves money'."
The highest profile recent example of Ranked Choice is in Alaska.
There, voters went to the polls to replace the late GOP Rep. Don Young.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., described the outcome, "Alaska's new ranked-choice voting system is a scam to rig elections. 60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a convoluted process and ballot exhaustion — which disenfranchises voters — a Democrat 'won'."
So for leftists, once again the system worked!
In an election that was constitutional, the top two vote getters would have faced each other in a runoff and the majority of GOP voters would have picked the new candidate.
And it would not have been the Democrat that won under Rigged Choice.
As we pointed out in our Sept. 3, 2022 column, "Ranked-choice works this way. In every race with more than two candidates, voters rank the contestants in order of preference on their ballot, like judges at a wet T-shirt contest.
"If no one gets a majority then, the last place finisher’s votes continue to be tossed and second choices used until someone gets a majority."
This means the voters with the worst ability to judge candidates get a second bite of the electoral apple. As we also wrote in our 2022 article, "The second-place votes of people whose candidate finished dead last are going to be used to determine a winner."
If no one gets a majority then, the votes of the least competent will continue to be tabulated until someone is finally declared the winner.
What a boon to election integrity and voter confidence that will be!
For the left, the fact an idea is unconstitutional does not disqualify it.
For us, it should. As we pointed out, in our previously cited column on this subject:
"In Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court established the principle of one man, one vote.
"Ranked choice voting violates this principle because the voters who supported the losing candidate have their votes counted twice. First for the loser and then for their second choice.
"The voters who had enough sense to vote for a viable candidate in the first place only have their votes counted once. It’s electoral affirmative action for the politically impaired."
As the Election Transparency Initiative describes it, "Ranked-Choice Voting — also known as 'Rigged-Choice Voting' — has been an unmitigated disaster when implemented in public elections, makes voting more difficult, reduces transparency, and puts voter confidence at risk."
Again from our prior column, "Wise states already have a system in place that ensures all candidates who take office enjoy support from a majority of voters.
"And it doesn’t require a murky backroom count where candidate support fluctuates like the numbers on a horse-racing tote-board. The time-tested system is called a runoff.
"And even better, every voter’s ballot is counted once and only once. Tom Cotton’s Arkansas has that system.
"If one candidate gets at least 40 percent of the vote, but less than 50 percent, and another candidate has at least 20 percent, there is a runoff to decide the winner."
Alaska has such a bad taste in its mouth after Rigged Choice that it is considering a ban on the leftist election-fortification scheme. Other perceptive states wishing to head this disaster off at the pass include Texas, Arizona and Montana.
If you live in those states, contact your local legislator and urge them to support the ban on Rigged Choice. The election you save may be your own.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with added humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.