Ohio
Ranked choice voting ban silences Ohio voters | Opinion
By banning ranked choice voting and penalizing communities that consider it, Ohio leaders have limited local control and signaled a lack of trust in voters to shape their own elections.
When Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 63 into law, he didn’t just ban ranked choice voting in Ohio. He sent a clear message: Ohio voters cannot be trusted to make decisions about our own elections.
That should concern everyone, regardless of where you stand on ranked choice voting.
This is not really about a specific voting system. It is about whether communities have the right to explore new ideas, debate them openly, and decide for themselves what works. Senate Bill 63 shuts that door completely. It tells cities and counties across Ohio that even considering a different approach is off-limits.
Worse, it punishes them for trying.
When policy becomes coercion
The law threatens to withhold Local Government Fund dollars from any community that adopts ranked choice voting. That is not guidance. It is coercion. It forces local leaders to choose between representing their voters and protecting their budgets.
In a state that has long valued local control, that should raise serious red flags.
Here in Greater Cincinnati, we pride ourselves on collaboration, innovation, and civic pride. We bring people together across industries, neighborhoods, and perspectives to solve problems and build something stronger. That spirit does not come from the top down. It comes from people who are trusted to show up and participate.
Senate Bill 63 undermines that spirit.
Ranked choice voting is already used in cities and states across the country. Some have embraced it. Others have rejected it. That is exactly how democracy is supposed to work. You try something. You evaluate it. You adjust.
Ohio does not even get that chance.
Who gets to decide our elections?
Instead of trusting voters to decide, state leaders decided for them. Instead of allowing debate, they ended it. Instead of encouraging participation, they shut it down.
If we believe in democracy, we have to believe in the people who make it work.
We have to trust Ohioans to think critically, to weigh options, and to choose how our elections should function. Taking that choice away does not protect democracy. It weakens it.
Gov. DeWine had an opportunity to stand up for that principle. He chose not to.
Now it is up to Ohio voters to decide what kind of voice we want to have moving forward and whether we are willing to accept it being taken away.
Tyler Minton is a Cincinnati resident and Ohio native who works in the meetings and events industry.