For Immediate Release: August 11, 2022
Contact: Ryan Hite, Communications Director
Despite Shameful Republican Support, Anti-Democratic Ballot Petition Falls Short
Washington, D.C.: “Nearly drowned out this week in the swirl of FBI and IRS headlines was big news from two states about the awful system of ranked choice voting,” said Phyllis Schlafly Eagles President Ed Martin. “First, from my home state of Missouri came the great news that a ballot initiative for ranked choice voting had fallen short of the required signatures and won’t appear on this November’s ballot. This is great news for the common-sense folks in Missouri, and it’s no thanks to some shameful so-called ‘Republicans’ who financially supported and advocated for this measure, including a fellow former director of the Missouri Republican Party.
“Great thanks is owed to many great groups in the state, including our own Missouri Phyllis Schlafly Eagles as well as the Missouri Precinct Project and many others who fought this ballot initiative. We are also grateful to Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who always holds the line for the constitution! Ashcroft stood up to dark money and liberal Republicans alike on this ballot initiative, and despite lawsuits and big dollars, he stuck to the books and protected Missouri elections.”
“Second this week was a breaking story from Project Veritas, pulling back the proverbial curtain on the mess of Alaska’s first ranked choice elections,” Martin continued. “Anyone who’s been watching the nightmare up north has seen the absolute disaster of Alaska’s at-large congressional special election. The state has spent untold dollars over what feels like a decade’s worth of elections just this year.
“Project Veritas reveals that incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski secretly supported the ranked choice voting change (passed in 2020) because it benefited her reelection! She understands the reality of malleable ‘blanket top-four’ (or ranked choice) elections for liberal ‘Republicans’ like her.”
Phyllis Schlafly and her organizations have always been at the forefront of the fight against ranked choice.
Missouri Phyllis Schlafly Eagles state leader Noreen McCann summed up the issue well: “Ranked Choice Voting effectively disenfranchises voters by causing confusion when casting ballots, and doesn’t facilitate proper vetting of candidates’ positions. A separate run-off election where the top remaining candidates can be vetted and offer the electorate a chance to cast an informed ballot is the way to ensure authentic self-government.”
Read more on Ranked Choice Voting at the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles website.
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