Ohio House votes to stamp out ranked choice voting before it begins
Ohio House lawmakers have approved a measure aimed at banning ranked choice voting. Under the bill, no state election may be conducted with ranked choice and any local government that decides to use a ranked choice system would forfeit state dollars.
Ohio Senate Bill 63 passed the state Senate last May with bipartisan support. The 63-27 vote in state House drew the backing of two Democrats — Ohio state Reps. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown, and Daniel Troy, D-Willowick. The measure leverages the Local Government Fund, a critical source of revenue for counties and cities around the state, to warn off local ranked choice efforts.
In written statement before the floor vote, Rank the Vote Ohio Executive Director Denise Riley said threatening local funding amounts to coercion. And she expressed disappointment that lawmakers banned the practice when no municipality in the state is actually using it yet. Two cities, Lakewood and Cleveland Heights, have been considering whether to put the practice on the ballot.
As a general matter, Riley argued transferring voters’ support in a ranked choice system “fixes a lot of problems.”
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/03/02/ohio-house-votes-to-stamp-out-ranked-choice-voting-before-it-begins/