YCRP on Rank Choice Voting
Written by Steve Howard
Yamhill County Republican Party
Election Integrity Chairman
The following pages show the “bipartisanship” Oregonians enjoyed regarding the House and Senate votes on RCV.
Despite the claims that RCV is easy to use, encourages less aggressive tactics, and makes elections fair for all candidates, the truth is – and I strongly encourage you to look at the material I have linked to above (and do your own research) – it is difficult to understand, difficult to administer and count, it favors those who have the financial backing to run media ads, and disenfranchises voters.
As shown above, the Oregon Association of County Clerks, in their July 18, 2023, letter to the Oregon State Senate, has come out against RCV. They would implement it if there was a comprehensive plan to make sure the costs, hardware, personnel, etc. were in place. There is not.
The attitude of the pro-RCV groups, and the state House and Senate, is let’s sugar coat it, put it in front of voters, and if they pass it then let’s figure out how to implement it. We’ve already seen this attitude with measure 110 and measure 114, both measures which are failures. It is reckless and irresponsible.
When you have one political party that can, and will, pass whatever legislation favors their political position, and defeat whatever legislation does not then you no longer have a Republic – you no longer have a representative government. You have crossed into a totalitarian state where the government dictates what the people can and cannot do rather than a government that is run by the people.
