By Matt Rooney
Don’t kid yourselves, Save Jerseyans:
Trenton Democrats will do everything they can between now and the next election cycle to stack the deck against the opposition. Specifically, Republican challengers.
On Thursday morning, Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) took a big step in solidifying New Jersey’s one-party state status by introducing “Ranked Choice Voting” legislation which would upend New Jersey elections.
“This morning, I was proud to partner with Senator Andrew Zwicker in introducing legislation to establish ranked-choice voting in the State of New Jersey for Primary and General Elections,” said Danielsen in a statement. “We are in a unique moment in New Jersey, where elections are becoming increasingly competitive, with more candidates entering the race and offering their visions for their communities. And while this is good for our State and our democracy, our ‘winner-take-all’ electoral system is not built for this. And it is highly likely without reform, candidates in both primaries and general elections may regularly win with less than 50% of the vote.”
But contrary to what Danielsen claims, all available evidence points to more disenfranchisement in ranked voting systems.
“The principle behind the democratic process of casting a vote is that each person has the right to equal and proportionate representation in government,” explained AFPI’s Mike Vallante back in 2022. “Leaders are chosen by voters, comparing the candidates against each other and casting a ballot. If there are going to be multiple rounds of casting ballots, each voter should be able to weigh in actively and vote once in each of those rounds, and candidates should be allowed to continue campaigning after anybody drops out. Campaign strategies, media attention, and voter perceptions are bound to change anytime the field of candidates is shaken up; running a simulated algorithm is not a substitute for this important democratic process.”
Ranked choice voting systems are also longer, more expensive, and more often than not increase angst and diminish trust.
“Ranked Choice Voting prohibits a voter from knowing which candidates remain in subsequent rounds and therefore makes it impossible for voters to be able to reassess the field accurately and consistently,” added Vallante. “Under Ranked Choice Voting, the voter does not have the ability to explicitly say who they would like to win compared to the other candidates because they do not know until after their only ballot is cast which candidates will be eliminated and which will remain.”
RVC systems also aren’t especially popular. Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon all rejected Ranked Choice Voting in November 2024. There’s no indication here in New Jersey when, or if, the legislative leadership will bring Danielsen’s bill forward, but you can be sure we’ll keep an extra close eye on this transparent attempt to rig our elections.
