SB291 would bar the use of instant run-off voting in municipal general elections.
The Senate failed to pass SB291 on February 28, 2023, by a vote of 12 to 13. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the Municipal Alternate Voting Methods Pilot Project, which enacted instant-runoff voting (IRV) or ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Utah, should be repealed. The various “alternative voting methods” under the IRV/RCV model are complicated, multiple-round, and unconstitutional processes that weaken election integrity by allowing a candidate to potentially win without genuine support from a plurality of voters. These schemes’ ballot casting requirements cause voter disenfranchisement by undermining each citizen’s right to vote, and could deny them from being able to select the one and only candidate of their choice.