Bill Prohibiting Ranked Choice Voting Narrowly Passes In Arizona Senate

Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs (R) pauses during taking the oath of office in a ceremony as she laughs with her mother Linda Hobbs, as U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Roopali Desai (L) administers the oath at the state Capitol in Phoenix, on Jan. 2, 2023. (Ross D. Franklin, Pool/AP Photo)

A Republican-sponsored bill prohibiting Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in Arizona passed in the state Senate by a slim majority vote on Feb. 28.

All 16 Republicans in the GOP-dominated chamber voted in favor of the bill’s adoption, with 13 Democrats voting against it. One Democrat abstained from voting.

SB1265 seeks to prohibit RCV in Arizona while maintaining the status quo of candidates receiving the most legal votes in an election being the declared winner.

Arizona Sen. Anthony Kern, the bill’s lead Republican sponsor, said the legislation would prevent confusion voting in Arizona’s elections.

Map of states and U.S. cities using ranked-choice voting (SOURCE: FairVote)

“RCV is an alternative voting method where voters can rank their preferred candidates in order of preference,” according to an Arizona State Senate press release.

“In RCV, if no candidate receives a majority of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed based on the voters’ second choice. This process continues until a candidate receives a majority of votes.”

“This can be confusing for voters, is more difficult to administer, and may always result in the candidate with the most first-choice votes winning the election,” Kern said in a statement.

“In addition, implementing RCV may require substantial changes to the electoral process and may be impractical in some jurisdictions. 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.”

The bill now goes before the Arizona House for reading and a vote. The House has 31 Republicans and 29 Democrats.

A favorable vote will send the legislation to Gov. Katie Hobbs for her signature or veto.

More than 60 jurisdictions across the United States have adopted RCV, including Maine and Alaska, in federal elections.

Arizona Senate Minority Leader Raquel Teran, a Democrat, did not respond immediately to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.

In the meantime, Hobbs announced that she is committing $500,000 through fund-raising to “flipping the Arizona House and Senate blue in 2024.”

Team Hobbs states, “GOP legislators are sending widely out-of-touch, do-nothing bills to Katie’s desk [which, thankfully, she can veto!] that aren’t addressing the pressing issues Arizonans are facing.”

“In 2024, Democrats have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to finally retake control of the legislature if we win just two more seats in both chambers.”

Hobbs announced the effort in association with the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (ADLCC).

“As the ADLCC maps out their strategy to flip the state House and Senate blue, they'll need the support of this grassroots team to get the job done.”