Former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who served as a centrist Democrat for most of his career before becoming an independent last spring, denounced his state’s move to ban ranked-choice voting despite the system never being used there.

Manchin wrote Tuesday in a post on the social media platform X that elections in West Virginia are “heading in the wrong direction” given the ranked-choice voting ban from March and a move from a state legislator to potentially close primary elections to only party members starting in 2026.

“Lawmakers just banned ranked choice voting—even though we’ve never used it. At the same time, they’re trying to shut out over 300,000 independent voters from participating in primary elections. That’s nearly 30% of West Virginia voters being told their voices don’t matter,” he said. “This isn’t leadership—it’s political........

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