Kansas Senate panel hears bill to ban ranked-choice voting

A Kansas Senate committee held a hearing on Senate Bill 6, a proposal that would bar any form of ranked‑choice voting — sometimes called instant‑runoff or preference voting — from use in federal, state, county or municipal elections in Kansas.

Supporters told the committee that ranked‑choice voting is complex, risks ballot exhaustion and can produce outcomes they described as manufactured majorities. Opponents and neutral witnesses said Kansas law already requires plurality voting and questioned whether a statewide ban is needed; some municipal and party officials said allowing local use could reduce vote‑splitting and primary costs.

The bill and why it matters

Senate Bill 6, as described by a reviser from the Revised Statutes Office, would prohibit “any form of rank choice voting method” for elections or nominations to federal, state, county or municipal elected office and would void any ordinance or resolution implementing such a system. The reviser noted the statutory language leaves no exception for local elections.

Proponents argued the measure would protect what they described as straightforward, majority‑based plurality elections. Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project ACTION, told the committee that ranked‑choice voting “undermines the traditional one‑person, one‑vote way of running an election” and called the method “incredibly complex.” Snead said RCV can “manufacture a majority” and cited studies and recent ballot experiences in other jurisdictions to question RCV’s claims to increase turnout, reduce polarization or produce more civil campaigning. “New York City spent $15,000,000 teaching people how to cast a ballot in their first RCV election,” Snead said, and he warned that longer ballots and longer per‑race voting times could…