Southeast Missouri lawmakers weigh in on ranked choice voting

This story is updated.

Holly Thompson Rehder

Two U.S. states, Alaska and Maine, plus more than 20 American cities now use a voting system in which voters may prioritize, or rank, their choice of candidates at election time.

Barry Hovis

If a current petition effort gathers enough steam, it appears Missouri voters may one day get the chance to decide whether ranked choice voting should be used in Missouri.

Jamie Burger

In the current election system, candidates of political parties compete in primaries.

The victors in those respective primaries emerge to face one another in the general election.

Under ranked voting, a voter may choose multiple candidates via a ranking with the top two finishers competing in a runoff.

Signatures to authorize a vote on a ranked voting amendment to Missouri's Constitution have been submitted to Secretary of State John R. "Jay" Ashcroft.

If enough of the signatures are deemed valid by Ashcroft's office, a plebiscite would go before Missouri voters Nov. 8.

If voters concur to the proposed amendment, the change to a ranked voting system would be effective for the office of governor, for Missouri's General Assembly and for Congress effective in 2026.

The proposed amendment allows "a political subdivision, a special district or county to opt out (of ranked voting) by ordinance or rule."

Local opinion

• GOP state Rep. Rick Francis, District 145 of Perryville: "It's the outside influence and that bothers me. I'd like to see an initiative petition to stop some of these out-of-state groups and the money they raise from changing our state constitution. I have not heard of one Missourian complaining about the election process that we have and no one in my district has been asking for ranked choice voting, so that tells me something."
• GOP state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder, District 27 of Scott City: "In what I've reviewed and what I understand of it, with ranked choice, it's no longer who gets the most votes would win. The fear is with RCV, we wouldn't be able to always get that most conservative person (elected) out of that primary, so I'm still looking through it and looking at other states that have had it and see how it's worked there over the years, but it's concerning. We might not be able to get the most conservative person out of a (GOP) primary."
• GOP state Rep. Barry Hovis, District 146 of Whitewater: "We've had some preliminary discussions on this in the House this year. My limited understanding of it in other states is with RCV you can vote for multiple people and list them in order of preference. The top two people coming out of the primary would be in a runoff. I see pros and cons. The Secretary of State has put a lot of numbers together on this and his office said he'll be speaking throughout the state (about ranked voting). It's early and I'm not one who is necessarily opposed to change. I would like to see what the benefits are and how RCV has impacted other states. If a state is 50-50 divided between Democrats and Republicans, it may well be a fair method but in a state heavy one way or the other, it may be unfair."
• GOP state Rep. Jamie Burger, District 148 of Benton: "I'm not for ranked choice voting at all. Our primary system, the way we have it, has worked for years and years, and I think we need to keep it. I think RCV has the potential to make people question whether our system is fair. I think we stay with what we've got."