Prohibits the use of ranked choice voting in all local, state and federal public office elections.

Plain-English Summary

This bill would make it illegal to use ranked choice voting in any election held in Rhode Island, including local elections (like city council or mayor), state elections (like governor or state legislature), and federal elections (like U.S. Congress). Ranked choice voting is a system where voters rank candidates in order of preference — first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on — rather than simply picking one candidate. Under ranked choice voting, if no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and those voters' second choices are counted instead, continuing until someone wins a majority.

This bill would ban that voting method entirely and ensure that Rhode Island elections continue using the traditional system where voters select just one candidate and whoever gets the most votes wins. The ban would apply across the board — no city, town, or state agency could adopt ranked choice voting for any public office election.

This bill affects all Rhode Island voters, election officials, and candidates for public office. Currently, Rhode Island does not use ranked choice voting statewide, but this bill would prevent any future adoption of the system at any level of government. It would also affect any local municipalities that might be considering or experimenting with ranked choice voting on their own.

As of now, the bill was introduced and referred to the House State Government & Elections Committee, but the sponsor requested that it be postponed, meaning it has not moved forward at this time.