A Republican state senator wants to ban ranked choice voting in Oklahoma amid national GOP pushback to the voting method being implemented in some cities and states.
Ahead of the legislative session that begins Feb. 5, Sen. Julie Daniels, R-Bartlesville , filed Senate Bill 1610 to prevent the State Election Board and county election boards from implementing ranked choice voting in any elections.
The election method in which a voter ranks all the candidates in each race as opposed to just selecting their top choice is not being used in Oklahoma elections, but Daniels said she’s being proactive.
“I do not believe that Oklahoma voters want such a system here,” she said. “Our election system is not built to do ranked choice voting, so we would have to overhaul our system in order to accommodate it.”
Proponents of ranked choice voting say it can reduce negative campaigning, eliminate the need for Oklahoma’s runoff primary elections and help elect more centrist candidates while also giving independent voters a greater voice at the ballot box.