Three states—Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama—banned ranked-choice voting (RCV) in less than a month. All three have Republican-controlled legislatures, and Alabama and Oklahoma have Republican trifectas. RCV was not in use in any of the states at the time. The three new bans bring the total number of states banning RCV to eight. All eight had a Republican-controlled legislature at the time, and all have done so since 2022.

On April 12, Kentucky legislators overrode a veto from Gov. Andy Beshear (D) to adopt House Bill 44. The bill changes several areas of election law, mostly related to voter list maintenance, including requiring an annual report on “voter registration records cleanup activities,” and stipulating that voters may only be contacted about their registration by mail. Legislators added the portion of the bill that bans RCV as a senate amendment, prohibiting the use of RCV for local, state, and federal elected office in the state.

In his veto message, Gov. Beshear did not mention the bill’s actions on ranked-choice voting. He focused instead on a technical aspect of a new list maintenance requirement included in the bill.

The final version of HB 44 passed the Kentucky State Senate 28-8 on March 27. All Democrats in the chamber voted against it, and all but one Republican present voted for passage. The next day, it passed the Kentucky House of Representatives 75-18, with all but one Democrat voting against it and every Republican in the chamber voting for passage. 

Gov. Beshear vetoed the legislation on April 5. Lawmakers overrode the veto on April 12 by similar margins to its initial passage, voting 79-20 in the lower chamber and 24-8 in the upper chamber to make the bill law. Kentucky law requires a simple majority in both chambers to override a veto. Kentucky is one of just four states where one party has a veto proof-majority in the legislature but the opposite party controls the governorship.

In Oklahoma, Governor Kevin Stitt (R) signed HB 3156 into law on April 29. The bill passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives 63-16 on March 13, with all Democrats and one Republican voting against passage. It passed the Oklahoma State Senate along party lines on April 24. The new law broadly prohibits ranked voting in the state, saying: “No election conducted by the State Election Board, a county election board, or any municipality authorized to conduct elections in Oklahoma shall use ranked choice voting, ranked voting, proportional ranked voting, preferential voting, or instant runoff voting.” 

Oklahoma’s Task Force on Campaign Finance and Election Threats, which Gov. Stitt established by executive order in November 2023, recommended banning RCV in a report issued on March 31, 2024. In recommending a ban, the task force identified the potential for increased costs, voter confusion, and tabulation errors as reasons for preemptively prohibiting the use of RCV in the state.   

The bill’s primary sponsor in the senate, Sen. Brent Howard (R), said, “For the security, for the validity of our elections, we need to have a uniform system.”  

Rep. David Bullard (R), another supporter of the legislation, argued that RCV would undermine the will of voters, saying “we are ruled by elected officials who gain the consent to govern from those that they govern—not the person who came in second place and mysteriously becomes the winner of an election, which is ranked-choice balloting.”

Opponents of the bill countered the task force’s recommendation by arguing that a prohibition would be a violation of local control by the state government, and that RCV could reduce costs, increase civility, and allow for increased third party competition in the state.

Sen. Carri Hicks (D) opposed the bill, saying, “This is a state overreach into local elections, prohibiting, and then through a threat of civil action diminishing the opportunity of local communities to take whatever meaningful action they believe will actually increase voter participation, return civility to our election process, and potentially reduce the overall cost associated with our elections.”

Sen. Mary Boren (D), another opponent, said: “I think it’s sad when we use political narratives to take things off the table that have shown to be beneficial in democracy in America and throughout the world, but I’m not surprised.”

In Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey (R) signed SB 186 into law on May 10. The bill passed the Alabama State Senate by a unanimous voice vote on April 9. It passed the Alabama House of Representatives 74-28 on May 2, with all Democrats voting against the bill. The new law says: “Ranked-choice voting shall not be used in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal office,” but makes an exception for military and overseas voters casting an absentee ballot. It takes effect on Oct. 1, 2024. 

In a press release, Gov. Ivey said, “I am proud to sign this bill which takes another step towards ensuring the confidence in our elections. As our Secretary of State Wes Allen put it, ranked-choice voting makes winners out of losers. Not only is ranked-choice voting confusing to voters, it also limits their ability to directly elect the candidate of their choice. Voting should be simple, and this complicated and confusing method of voting has no place in Alabama’s elections.”

Active bills that would ban RCV, or create a ballot question to do so, have passed one chamber of a legislature in four more states this year, including three states with Republican trifectas.

RCV is used for regular statewide elections in two states, Alaska and Maine, and for special congressional elections in Hawaii. Fourteen other states used ranked-choice voting in some local elections. In addition to Alabama, Kentucky, and Oklahoma, five other states prohibit RCV: Florida, Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

For more arguments for and against RCV, click here.