Ranked-choice voting (RCV) is a bad idea, anywhere. Here in the Great Land, we've had a couple of hard lessons on just how bad it is, as we have been saddled with another term of Senator Princess Lisa Murkowski and Democrat Mary Peltola as our sole House representative, largely because of that ill-fated scheme.
RCV is on the ballot for repeal here in Alaska this fall, and with a bit of luck, we'll dump it into history's ashbin. But in the meantime, Mary Peltola's reported friend and mentor, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) wants to take this bad idea nationwide. Must Read Alaska's Suzanne Downing has the story:
Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a mentor and ally of Rep. Mary Peltola of Alaska, is a sponsor of legislation to force ranked-choice voting onto U.S. congressional elections for both the House and Senate — across all the states.
Raskin and Democrat Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia reintroduced their Ranked Choice Voting Act. Sen. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, introduced mirror legislation in the Senate.
Rep. Peltola got to Congress due to the curiosities and quirks of ranked-choice voting in Alaska’s 2022 election, brought on by a dark-money ballot initiative that passed in 2020 in Alaska.
Raskin has a problem with the Constitution and the orderly conduct of elections, you see, unless he personally agrees with the outcome:
Peltola is a close ally of Rep. Raskin. She joined Raskin’s “Democracy Summer” to train young people to be Democrat revolutionaries prepared to do battle should Donald Trump become president.
Raskin is on record saying he would stop Trump from becoming president by blocking his confirmation, and he’s been building the army of young Democrats to help him create “civil war conditions” if Trump wins in November.
Did you get that? He's preparing to create "civil war conditions" if former President Donald Trump wins in November. While we should abhor any such event, if it were to happen, well, that's not going to work out the way Rep. Raskin thinks it will.
See Related: Ranked-Choice Repeal Upheld: Alaska Supreme Court Rules, Issue to Be on November Ballot
Ranked-Choice Voting: Coming Soon to a State Near You, and How Alaska Fought Back
Here's the problem: Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution states:
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
When it comes to presidential elections, we turn to Article II, Section I:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
There is some ambiguity for the House and Senate elections; Section 4 does say that the "Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations." It's unclear as to whether this would include such micro-management as forcing RCV on the states. But for the presidential elections? The appointment of electors, who form the Electoral College, which is how we choose a president - is left entirely in the hands of the state legislatures.
In other words, Raskin can't apply RCV to ensure Trump is kept out of office.
Granted, Raskin's bill is going nowhere. The GOP-led (narrowly, but still) won't allow this travesty to see the light of day; it's a fair bet that a good number of Democrats won't support it. But it's an interesting sign of just what depths "progressive" Democrats like Jamie Raskin will go to keep former President Trump out of the Oval Office.
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