A new experiment in the Show Me State
If you value articles like this, sign up for our daily email newsletter and support us with a donation.
Earlier this week, the city of St. Louis held municipal elections under a new voting system. In 2021, residents elected their mayor using Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) as an alternative to a plurality system with a runoff. For the 2025 elections, the election officials are experimenting again, this time with an alternative that appears fairer.
Obviously not satisfied with Ranked Choice Voting, the city election officials chose the "Approval Voting" method. Under this system, people have as many votes to disperse as there are contenders.
In the St. Louis mayoral Democratic primary four candidates were on the ballot. This means each voter could disperse four votes within the field, but without assigning multiple votes to any one candidate. Therefore, if strongly in favor of a particular candidate, the individual may issue one of his or her votes toward that contender and then not vote for any of the others. Doing so would have the force of giving the voter’s favored candidate three extra votes.
The Gateway City mayoral primary was held Tuesday, and the approval results found Mayor Tishaura Jones' (D) re-election bid in serious trouble.
In the initial vote, Cara Spencer, a member of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and Ms. Jones' 2021 opponent, crushed the incumbent 68-33%.
The other two candidates, the city's Recorder of Deeds Michael Butler and businessman Andrew Jones, received 25% and 14% of the approval vote universe, which led to a cumulative total percentage of 140%. The high aggregate number shows that many voters were dispersing multiple votes throughout the candidate field.
Ms. Spencer and Mayor Jones will now advance into the April 8 general municipal election. In that vote, the electorate will return to casting their ballots in a traditional way: voting once for one candidate.
The Approval Voting method appears as a more equitable way of dispersing votes if the goal is to eliminate plurality victories. The major flaw in Ranked Choice Voting is that some individuals cast votes in multiple rounds, while others are limited to their initial vote.
Under Ranked Choice Voting, the ballot caster would rank his or her preferences among the listed candidates. In the St. Louis Mayor's example, a Ranked Choice Voter would have ordered the candidates with their first choice as "Ranked 1," second choice "Ranked 2," etc.
When all ballots are cast, the votes are then counted. If no contender receives majority support, the last place candidate is eliminated, and the election officials must find all of the ballots that ranked the last-place finisher as the first choice. At that point, those voters who ranked the last place finisher first are isolated and just their second choices are added to the aggregate count. This process continues until one candidate finally reaches the 50% plateau through the benefit of extra voting.
The flaw in Ranked Choice Voting is that it creates uneven planes and allows the extremist voters – those who vote for the least popular candidates and are often the most unrelenting voters on either side of the ideological spectrum – to provide the victory margin for a particular candidate.
While the RCV proponents say their system elects the candidate with the broadest support base, in reality it has proven to generally elect someone who commands lesser initial backing.
The Approval Voting method appears to correct the RCV flaw in that it would return all voters to equal standing. Therefore, eliminating plurality finishes with the Approval Voting method seems to accomplish the goal of creating a majority and where the candidate attracting the most actual votes, wins.
Jim Ellis is a 35-year veteran of politics at the state and national levels. He has served ss executive director for two national political action committees, as well as a consultant to the three national Republican Party organizations in DC, the National Federation of Independent Business, and various national conservative groups.
Born and raised in Sacramento, California, he earned a B. A. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis in 1979. Jim raised his daughter, Jacqueline, alone after his wife died following a tragic car accident. He helped establish the Joan Ellis Victims Assistance Network in Rochester, NH. Jim also is a member of the Northern Virginia Football Officials Association, which officiates high school games throughout the region.
Editor's note:
HOW SOULS AND LIBERTY WILL MOVE FORWARD THE NEXT FOUR YEARS
There can be no doubt we have witnessed an extraordinary moment in the history of the United States and the world. The election of Donald Trump to a second Presidential term is a great victory for Christian patriots, but it is not a complete or final victory. Rather, it is a reprieve from the ceaseless assaults on life, liberty and faith we have had to endure for four years.
Donald Trump is president once again, and his decisions, Cabinet selections, and force of personality are shaping the United States and the world in ways we could only dream of.
We have a Heaven-sent opportunity to step up and ensure this victory is not merely a one-off, but the first of many and the foundation of a lasting legacy of patriotic, Christian, pro-family policies.
Souls and Liberty will be part of that effort, but we cannot do it without you. It will require reporting and activism that YOU can be a part of.
Can you step up and support us? Just once – a one-time donation is very valuable. Or, better yet, support us every month with a recurring donation. Thank you, and may God bless you.
Stephen Wynne
Editor-in-Chief, Souls and Liberty
Comments