Eight states and the District of Columbia will have ballot initiatives related to ranked choice voting. RCV is a method of voting where voters can vote for multiple candidates in order of preference. While activists praise the method as being more fair and allowing voters’ voices to be better heard, opponents making up the Stop RCV Coalition, such as Honest Elections Project Executive Director Jason Snead, argue that the process serves only to confuse voters.

“Ranked choice voting is a convoluted scheme that confuses voters,” he said. “Across the country, millions of citizens will be faced with the option of banning or enshrining RCV in their state. Ballot issues are often overlooked, and in particular, the activists behind RCV measures usually don’t want to admit they are pushing for ranked choice voting.”

Ranked choice voting initiatives are on the ballot in Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, D.C. Most initiatives are meant to institute some level of RCV, with the exception of Missouri, Alaska, and Arizona.

Other members of the Stop RCV Coalition blamed the sudden expansion of RCV initiatives on left-wing dark money groups.

“Ranked Choice Voting ballot measures are being bankrolled by shadowy dark money networks and out-of-state billionaires who want to interject their preferred voting method into state elections across the country,” Save Our States Executive Director Trent England said. “Voters deserve to know who is behind the push to make elections more complicated and less transparent, and the Stop RCV Coalition’s resource exposes the liberal money behind these RCV measures.”

These groups include billionaire George Soros’s Open Society Foundation, Arabella Advisors, FairVote, and the Hewlett Foundation, which have helped fund the effort behind some ballot initiatives.

On the other end, pro-RCV groups hold that the system would help solve a whole host of problems that plague the current system, including toxic campaigns, the advance of unpopular candidates, dampening enthusiasm due to voters feeling their voices aren’t heard, and soaring campaign costs.

“With RCV, voters can sincerely rank candidates in order of preference. Voters know that if their first choice doesn’t win, their vote automatically counts for their next choice instead. This frees voters from worrying about how others will vote and which candidates are more or less likely to win,” FairVote said on its website.

According to FairVote, RCV is in place in 50 U.S. jurisdictions that cover 13 million voters.