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(Des Moines, IA) -- A bill that would prohibit ranked choice voting in Iowa elections is advancing. Senate File 459 is a proposal brought forward by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, who told legislators the state doesn't have the infrastructure to count these types of ballots.
State Sen. Ken Rozenboom (R-Pella) managed the bill on the Iowa Senate floor on Wednesday.
"Iowa has an extremely good elections process that's respected around the country," Rozenboom says. "In my view, ranked choice voting makes it harder to vote. It makes the votes harder to count. And, it's much harder to ensure a transparent and accountable democratic process."
While the proposal applies to all elections, State Sen. Sarah Trone Garriott (D-Waukee) brought an amendment on the floor which would exclude county and city elections from the prohibition. She tells WHO Radio News it would help mitigate the cost of elections at those levels.
"If you can avoid a runoff, if you can avoid primaries that is really helpful," Trone Garriott says. "Any additional elections are many more thousands of dollars more money that the taxpayers need to spend."
She also says she's heard from local jurisdictions about the issue. Rozenboom says that's not the case in his district.
"I've been doing this job for 13 years," Rozenboom says. "Until this year, I've never heard of a voter and I still don't have a constituent that's requested ranked choice voting."
The bill passed the Iowa Senate on Wednesday and is now eligible to move through the process in the Iowa House of Representatives.