Press Releases

On Wednesday, Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) introduced legislation that would prevent the spread of ranked choice voting, something that dilutes the vote and voice of voters in elections across the country.

"For centuries, citizens of the United States have been able to cast their votes with one vote and one voice," said Congressman Lawler. "But in recent years, there has been an effort to enact ranked choice voting, a method which distorts election outcomes."

"In 2021's mayoral primary in New York City, voters had to wait weeks in order to discover who won, sowing chaos, confusion, and undermining confidence in the result," concluded Congressman Lawler. "Outcomes like that are problematic for everyone involved, and are exactly why we should ban the practice of ranked choice voting at the federal level in the first place. Ensuring confidence in our elections is a critical function of government, and I'm proud to introduce this bill to accomplish that goal."

"’One citizen, one vote’ is among the most sacred bedrocks of our self-governing Constitutional Republic," said Congresswoman Tenney. "Ranked choice voting leads to distorted outcomes and produces results that do not accurately reflect the majority's will. It also creates chaos and confusion amongst voters, undermining the people’s faith in the democratic process and distorting their choices at the ballot box. As co-chair of the Election Integrity Caucus, I will continue to support legislation like the One Vote, One Choice Act to prioritize transparent and accessible voting to restore confidence in our elections.” 

New York's 17th Congressional District is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.