The Arizona Freedom Caucus, which also opposes RCV, had this to say:
The Arizona Freedom Caucus unequivocally opposes Ranked Choice Voting. The problems with RCV are numerous and well-documented, the least of which is the erosion of the one-citizen, one-vote principle which has long guided American elections. In jurisdictions where it has been tried, RCV has caused the exact outcomes which election integrity legislators have sought to eliminate, such as disenfranchisement, voter confusion, delayed results, and the unnecessary complication of our elections process.
“Ranked Choice Voting is an unmitigated disaster as seen recently in Alaska and local municipalities races,” said Arizona Freedom Caucus Member Austin Smith. “Arizona—Maricopa County specifically—already has a bad record of voter tabulation and counting process. Between voter confusion, high rates of ballot exhaustion and the difficulty of tabulating the results, RCV increases voter disenfranchisement, distrust in the process and deters candidates from taking stances on issues important to every Arizonan. The bottom line is RCV is a scam that destroys integrity in elections.”
“RCV may not always result in the candidate with the most first-choice votes winning the election,” said Arizona Freedom Caucus Member Senator Anthony Kern. “I am aware that there are groups in Arizona advocating for RCV, but this will only lead to chaos, and we must ensure that our constituents have easy and fair access to the ballot box.”
“RCV introduces voter disenfranchisement perpetrated by its ‘exhausted ballots’ because the effect is the silencing of significant portions of the electorate,” said Arizona Freedom Caucus Member Senator Justine Wadsack. “Exhausted ballots are those that do not rank any continuing candidate, contain an overvote at the highest continuing ranking, or contain two or more sequential skipped rankings before its highest continuing ranking.”
They are right. This is an imminent threat to our elections and to the principle of "one person one vote".
You can believe that we aren't taking this lying down. Legislation is already underway to prevent this scam from happening here.
Make no mistake: I will fight this scam with every fiber of my being.
Our elections are predicated on "one person, one vote". But the malfeasance committed by Maricopa County is wrong because it gives votes to non-citizens, fictional persons, and unscrupulous corporations votes that they should not have.
Ranked Choice Voting is wrong because it gives many voters multiple votes.
PAID FOR BY WENDY ROGERS FOR AZ SENATE
Wendy Rogers is a retired member of the Air Force. Use of military rank, job titles, and photographs in uniform does not imply endorsement by the Department of the Air Force or the Department of Defense.
