Repulsive California Values (RCV) Coming to Arizona

by Thomas Reiner, ©2024

(May 28, 2024) — “But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it …”– Nancy Pelosi

“California is infamous for passing things and then waking up and saying, ‘What the h*** did we just pass?’”– California Governor Gavin Newsom

Americans remember when California was a lighthouse for our nation. Continuous innovation was a spark that ignited the whole world in ways unimaginable. A dynamic political pendulum was the democratic ideal for our Constitutional Republic as Californians elected Governors from Lightly Liberal^TM Pat Brown to Coolheaded Conservative^TM Ronald Reagan. The pendulum always swung relatively close to the center.  No longer.  The pendulum has been stuck to the Left in overdrive for over a decade and Pelosi’s “bill fog” has spread beyond the Bay Area.

California is no longer the leader except for taxes, illegal alien invasion (California just outpaced Texas), overpriced real estate, homelessness and cost of gasoline. It continues to devolve into cashless bail, theft with no repercussions and police vilification. Don’t forget free vodka and needles for the homeless in San Francisco. How did this happen? The main reason is that California has turned into a one-party fiefdom where politicians are seduced into groupthink and dissent is stifled, which mostly started in 2011. Then, Californians approved Open Primaries, aka “Jungle Primaries,” where regardless of Party, the two leading contenders in a primary advance to the General Election. Virtually the only candidates in General Elections nowadays are Democrats as ossification slowly overwhelms California. It is better for both sides of The Swinging Pendulum^TM to argue their cases in a General Election as people tend to sleep through Primaries and only start paying attention in October. The result is that the California Republican Party is headed the way of the Woolly Mammoth.

The real question is, “Can it happen here in Arizona?”  The answer is it’s already happening. A “Better Ballot” Constitutional Amendment is currently gathering signatures for this November. The misleading petition is called “Make Elections Fair” which is a lie right out of “Atlas Shrugged.”  This amendment is a combination of Jungle Primaries and Ranked Choice Voting which could eventually turn Arizona into a permanent Blue State.  Say hello to Big Brother.

The unintended pitfalls of “Jungle Primaries” are evident in California. Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is an anathema. The ballot is confusing, has increased reliance on attackable algorithmic counting machines and prone to misinterpretation, leading to the disenfranchised voter. The result will be increased lack of confidence in any vote. Also, if one doesn’t rank all the candidates, including a detestable candidate who shouldn’t even be a dog catcher, then their ballot can become an “exhausted ballot” and discarded. Easily-made mistakes from the myriad of instructions can also be discarded, leading to voter suppression which is a Really Clearly Vomitous way to disenfranchise voters. 

Most voters have made up their educated minds before the General Election and don’t need to rank candidates, so apologies for the math lesson just ahead. For example, the first round of three candidates has results with the leader receiving 49% while the two others garnered 25.6% and 25.4% respectively. Historically, the leading candidate wins and it is game over.  Not so with RCV, as 50%+ is required to win. As the bottom candidate is disqualified in the second round, the former leader only receives the same 49% (possibly because informed voters refused to rank other than what they decide is their only real choice) while the second candidate receives the ranked disqualified votes and wins the election with 51% of the vote to the first-round leader of 49%. Can anyone with at least a first grade education see this is patently unfair? This is essentially how RINO Lisa Murkowski wins Alaska elections even though there have been real Conservatives on the ballot leading after the first round. Alaska is looking to repeal RCV because of these unintended consequences, so don’t let Arizona fall into the same trap.  

Please be a Real Cool Voter and reject Ranked Choice Voting…and Jungle Primaries.

Disclaimer: The author and his wife lived in California from the mid-70s to 2019 and personally witnessed its slow political disintegration largely due to Jungle Primaries.  Like most refugees to Arizona from there, they bring warnings while respecting the rich and wild history of the grand “Grand Canyon State.”