Kansas committee hears bill to ban ranked-choice voting statewide

The Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs on Wednesday held a hearing on Senate Bill 6, which would prohibit any form of ranked‑choice voting for federal, state, county or municipal offices in Kansas and would void local ordinances or regulations adopting ranked‑choice methods before July 1 of this year.

The bill’s sponsor and committee staff asked a Revisor’s Office analyst, Jason Long of the Revisor’s Office, to summarize the proposal. Long said Senate Bill 6 “defines ranked choice voting as that form of voting that allows voters to rank 2 or more candidates in order of preference and tabulates the ballots in multiple rounds with the elimination of the lowest vote receiving candidate after each round until there's a candidate that receives a majority of the votes cast,” and that the bill would “nullify any local ordinance resolution or regulation, that is adopted prior to July 1st this year.”

Why it matters: supporters said the bill would prevent what they described as voter confusion, discarded ballots and delayed results under ranked‑choice systems; opponents said ranked‑choice voting can produce majority winners, is understandable to voters and can boost enfranchisement at the local level. The…