The Independent View: MO RCV Ballot Initiative

The Missouri Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) Initiative may appear on the Ballot in Missouri, as an initiated Constitutional Amendment, on November 8th, 2022.

The Initiative would establish Top-Four Open Primaries for Elections for: Statewide Office, Missouri General Assembly, and U.S. Congress, and it would determine the Winner at the General Election through RCV.

Under the Initiative, All Candidates would appear on the same Primary Ballot, Open to All Voters, regardless of their Party Affiliation.

The Initiative would allow the Party Affiliation of Candidates to be identified on the Ballot.

The Initiative would require a space for Write-In Votes on the Primary Election Ballot, but Not on the General Election Ballot.

Under the Ballot Initiative, Voters would Rank the Four General Election Candidates, for a given Office by Preference on their Ballots.

If No Candidate wins a simple Majority of the Vote, 50%+1, the Candidate with the Fewest Votes would be Eliminated. People who Voted for that Candidate as their Highest-Ranked choice would have their Votes Redistributed to their Next-Highest-Ranked Choice. The Tabulation Process would continue in Rounds until One Candidate received a simple Majority of Votes.

During Tabulation, if a Voter's Highest-Ranked choice is Eliminated, and their Next Highest-Ranked Choice had also been Eliminated or was left Blank, their Vote would be Distributed to their Next Highest-Ranked Choice that was still Active, had Not been Eliminated.

Better Elections is Sponsoring the Initiative.

Arguments: David Roland, a Member of the Better Elections Campaign, said, "Our proposal would free voters from the pressure to choose the ‘lesser of two evils,’ allowing them a better opportunity to support the candidates they really believe in. ... I’ve long been frustrated that our current system seems to be increasing the polarization of Missouri politics and consistently generating nominees who do not necessarily enjoy the support of a broad swath of this state’s voters."

Supporters: St. Louis County NAACP - John Bowman, President of the St. Louis County NAACP, said, "Having more choices is good in every part of life, and we certainly need more of that in politics. It’s time to take back control as voters."