Hidden loophole in Rank Choice Voting (Measure 117)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

The diligent Taxpayers Association researches have been studying the highly complicated and controversial rank-choice voting Measure 117, as liberals aim to re-invent voting.

Our researchers have discovered that there may be a statistical loophole or hidden imbalance that could empower some voters over others.

Consider if 6 candidates are on the ballot, rank-choice voting demands that voters rank those 6 candidates between 1 and 6.  If you follow these instructions, you are in fact sending proportional votes to candidates you dislike which can be used against the candidates you favor the most.

The loophole emerges when voters do not follow expected instructions and only rank vote 3 out of the 6 candidates (in this example).   By not ranking candidates you cut off sending them proportional votes.  The downside is that under rank-choice voting there are often multiple rounds of voting where candidates are slowly removed in a process of elimination.   For those voters who only vote for three candidates, if the voting is extended over 3 rounds, then their ballot is exhausted or eliminated altogether as the voting tabulations go into a 4th, 5th or possible 6th round.

Your ability to have your vote matter in multiple rounds (if that occurs) is based on how many candidates you rank.   So, in effect, voters who cut-short their number of rankings will disproportionately empower their voting power in the early voting tabulations/rounds while disproportionately dis-empowering their voting power in later tabulation/rounds if they do in fact occur.  If most rank-choice voting elections are statistically decided within the first 3 rounds, then those who utilize this method now have greater voting power than other voters.  Voting now becomes unequal among voters.  This is a potential big flaw in the system.

Because rank-choice voting is shrouded in so much mystery and unanswered questions, it is hard to fully test the problems of the system.  In California, under rank-choice voting, the wrong school board candidate won and no one figured out the calculation mistake for weeks later.

Voters can avoid a flawed system if they simply vote NO on Measure 117.

— The Taxpayers Association of Oregon submitted 3 voter arguments against Measure 117 in the Statewide Voters Pamphlet.

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