Op-Ed: Think Carefully About Supporting Ranked Choice Voting

There are two initiatives on the ballot which will change how elections are conducted in Montana. These initiatives change our constitution. They are promoting a relatively untested “ranked choice” system which has only been adopted by two other states.

Constitutional Initiative 125 replaces Montana’s open party primaries with a primary that puts all candidates on the same ballot. The top four vote getters then advance to the general election.

Constitutional Initiative 126 requires whoever wins the general election to have 50% + 1 of votes in order to win. This measure is silent on the mechani...