As the Center for Election Science, a national nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on voter education and promoting election science, we strongly oppose the resolution in Missouri – HJR 104 – that aims to prohibit ranked-choice voting (RCV), approval voting and all voting methods that allow the residents of Missouri the opportunity to express their preferences. We believe that this resolution should not move forward for several compelling reasons:

Restricts Voter Expression: Voting method reform allows voters to express themselves to the government – the government should not censor them through restrictive legislation. Missouri politicians should not be censoring voters because they may disagree with what they may say.

Seeking to Elude Accountability: Missouri politicians are unhappy that voters are seeking alternative voting methods to change their elections, because they want to avoid accountability. Instead of working to improve voters’ lives to keep their elected positions, these officials are attempting to revert to old voting methods that can cement them in office forever.

Avoid Conflating Voting Methods with Non-citizen Participation: Non-citizen voting is already illegal. Yet, these politicians believe they can trick Missourians to vote to “end” non-citizen voting. These politicians lumped in the real reforms they are afraid of, RCV and approval voting, because they couldn’t beat them alone on the ballot.

Voting Reforms Are Nonpartisan: Voting reforms do not help one party over another. Full stop. Missouri Republicans will point to Alaska’s RCV election and say “RCV hurts Republicans because a Democrat won the House seat”…. and forget to point out that a Republican won the Senate seat. How can a voting method be a partisan plot, if both parties did well?

Ends Local Control: This bill represents a clear encroachment by the state legislature to take power away from local communities. Localities throughout Missouri have consistently selected voting procedures for various offices based on what suits their local context. Why can’t localities vote the way they feel works best for them?

Demonstrate the Evidence: There is little to no evidence to suggest that alternative voting methods have anything but a positive impact as voter satisfaction, expression, and overall political competition all improve with new methods. Instead they want Missourians to give up their voting rights, and won’t tell them a coherent reason why.

We urge Missouri’s legislature to reject House Joint Resolution 104 (HJR 104). The state should embrace the opportunity to modernize its electoral systems and improve representation for all voters, not censor voters and cement their own power. Missourians should take action and tell these politicians to stop restrictive election reform legislation.