dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – The state Senate passed on Tuesday its version of a bill to prohibit the use of ranked choice voting in local, state or federal elections, and sent it to the House of Delegates.
The House has its own, slightly different version that will be on second reading – the amendment stage – on Wednesday.
The Senate bill is SB 490. It defines ranked choice voting – generally abbreviated as RCV – as occurring in rounds where losers are eliminated until one candidate scores a clear majority.
As previously reported, RCV is used statewide in Alaska, Hawaii and Maine. RCV is prohibited in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
It was noted on the Senate floor that eight other states are considering banning RCV.
Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, a bill co-sponsor, stood in support of it. He cited the hypothetical example of WVU meeting Pitt in the Backyard Brawl, where Pitt outscores WVU in the first three quarters, but WVU makes a fourth-quarter comeback and seemingly wins by a point.
But, Oliverio said, the referee decides that Pitt won three quarters compared to WVU’s one, and gives the game to Pitt.
“We live in a society where we have winners and losers and this bill just restates that,” he said.
“We have in West Virginia an incredible electoral system. We get it right in West Virginia,” he said. “I think it’s important that we pass this bill; we get rid of this silliness that has taken place in other states, and we continue to have the finest elections in the country.”
His 13th District colleague, Sen. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, rose in good-natured opposition to the bill, noting that the Brawl features just two opponents, while RCV typically applies to elections with multiple candidates, especially primaries.
Primary winners often score only 30% of the vote, he said. RCV can lend some moderation and if a city or county wanted to try it, he’d be interested in seeing what happens. “I do think we’re rushing in the other direction a little too quickly.”
Tuesday was Marshall University Day at the Capitol, and Judiciary chair Mike Stuart, R-Kanawha, prompted chuckles across the room by saying, “Other than a bad analogy using a non-football school like Pitt, rather than Marshall University to play WVU, I’ve got nothing.”
The vote was 31-2, with the only other Democrat, Majority Leader Mike Woelfel, D-Cabell, joining Garcia.
The House bill is HB 2683. It contains a shorter definition of RCV and different phrasing of the prohibition. The most significant difference is a sentence saying the prohibition doesn’t apply to internal political party processes.
Municipal elections bill
On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed SB 50, to align municipal election dates with statewide primary and general elections. It sets a compliance date of July 1, 2032, for municipalities with charters that have to be amended by the voters, and for municipalities without charters that can do it simply by ordinance.
SB 50 also heads to the House.
