Opposition to Ranked Choice Voting – Resolution 2023-05

Whereas the Loudoun County Republican Committee (hereafter LCRC) is committed to supporting principles and practices that promote free, fair, and transparent elections in the County of Loudoun, the State of Virginia, and the United States of America;

Whereas the LCRC is in alignment with the resolution adopted by the Republican National Committee (hereafter RNC) opposing such said voting scheme known as Ranked Choice Voting and wishes to adopt and support the RNC resolution as contained herewith;

Whereas the mission of the Republican Party is to act as the party of liberty, the party of equality, the party of opportunity for all, the party of favoritism for none and to encourage and allow the broadest possible participation of all voters in Republican Party activities at all levels and to ensure that the Republican Party is open and accessible to all Americans;

Whereas America has operated on a well-understood and relatively uniform election system that has been implemented over two hundred years to support our constitutional republic;

Whereas the political parties in America have created the world’s largest representative forums for debate amongst thousands of factions of American citizens all across the nation;

Whereas traditional American primary and general elections ensure that voters who support one candidate, not a plurality of candidates, are heard clearly while ranked choice voting schemes open elections to “ballot exhaustion” or the disenfranchisement of voters who choose not to support multiple candidates who do not clearly represent their values;

Whereas the grassroots activists of the Republican Party have made it abundantly clear that they do not trust new election procedures, outcomes, and further complications of modern systems that sow additional distrust in elections, and we need to keep voting simple and secure;

Whereas educating voters on the confusing processes that vary by state has cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars for educational efforts that have provided ineffective results;

Whereas states and communities where ranked choice voting has been tested have consistently decreased voter participation in those communities and in many cases the elections have resulted in more discarded votes than counted votes;

Whereas ranked choice voting often results in additional tabulation delays resulting in days or weeks of additional counting while depending exclusively on technology without traceable ballots to support determined winners; and

Whereas supporters of ranked choice voting seek to eliminate or disempower party primaries; therefore, be it

Resolved, that the Loudoun County Republican Committee

1) supports and adopts the Resolution to Officially Oppose Ranked Choice Voting Across the County and particularly in Virginia as adopted by the RNC as set forth, and

Further Resolved, that the Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee

1) shall cause copies of this resolution to be disseminated to all Republican members of the Virginia General Assembly and all Republican candidates seeking Republican nomination in the General Assembly.