| R 392 |
| 2022 -- S 2232 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 06/22/2022 |
| S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N |
| CREATING A SPECIAL SENATE COMMISSION TO STUDY RANKED CHOICE VOTING AND RUNOFF ELECTIONS FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY AND GENERAL OFFICER PRIMARIES |
Introduced By: Senators Zurier, DiMario, Kallman, and McCaffrey |
| Date Introduced: February 08, 2022 |
| WHEREAS, Using Ranked Choice Voting has the potential to expand the range of |
| choices available to voters by allowing them to vote for candidates of their choice without |
| concern of giving an advantage to the candidate they least prefer and promote campaigns that are |
| more positive and focused on issues because candidates will seek to appeal to opponents' |
| supporters as a second choice; and |
| WHEREAS, The implementation of runoff elections would ensure that a winner of a |
| primary election won a majority of the votes in a given election, promoting majority support of a |
| candidate by the electorate; now therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That a special legislative commission be and the same is hereby created |
| consisting of seven (7) members: three (3) of whom shall be members of the Senate, not more |
| than two (2) from the same political party, to be appointed by the President of the Senate; one of |
| whom shall be a representative of the Board of Elections, to be appointed by the President of the |
| Senate; one of whom shall be the Secretary of State, or designee; and two (2) of whom shall be |
| representatives from a board of canvassers or election officials of two (2) different cities or towns |
| in the state, to be appointed by the President of the Senate. |
| All members of the study commission shall be registered voters of this state at the time of |
| their selection and at all times while they remain on the commission. |
| The purpose of said commission shall be to study the potential application of ranked |
| choice voting on primary elections for General Assembly and General Officer candidates, |
| including but not limited to; |
| • Analyzing the requirements for implementing ranked choice voting, including |
| public education, voting equipment and technology, ballot designs, and costs; |
| • Determining the level of public support for ranked choice voting; |
| • Reviewing the experience of other states in conducting elections using ranked |
| choice voting; |
| • Providing recommended changes in the law to implement ranked choice voting; |
| and |
| • Providing recommendations on making all voting systems used in the state |
| compatible with ranked choice voting, including a review of the availability and costs of |
| necessary voting equipment; study any other alternatives to single-ballot plurality voting the |
| commission considers relevant or useful. |
| Forthwith upon passage of this resolution, the members of the commission shall meet at |
| the call of the President of the Senate, who shall appoint a Chair of the commission. |
| Vacancies in the commission shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment. |
| A quorum of the commission shall consist of a majority of its membership, and the |
| membership of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services. |
| All departments and agencies of the state, shall furnish such advice and information, |
| documentary or otherwise, to the commission and its agents as is deemed necessary or desirable |
| by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this resolution. |
| The Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to provide |
| suitable quarters for the commission; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the commission shall report its findings and recommendations to the |
| President of the Senate on or before February 1, 2023, and the commission shall expire on July 1, |
| 2023. |
| ======== |
| LC004276/SUB A |
| ======== |