Ranked-Choice Voting Could be Headed for a Maine Ballot

Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for this post.

Maine could become the first state to swap its traditional election system for one in which the winning candidates for Congress and State offices are selected by Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV).

On Monday, the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, a state organization backed by national advocates, will submit signed petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office seeking to put the proposal on the November 2016 ballot, if the petition signatures are certified.

RCV is designed to ensure that the winning candidate receives a majority vote. Advocates say it also ensures that candidates appeal to a cross-section of voters, not just the narrow, active constituencies that often decide party primary contests.

Currently, the candidate who receives the most votes, or a plurality, wins the election. The initiative has the potential to dramatically change how Mainers elect their U.S. Senators and Representatives, as well as their Governors, State Senators and State Representatives.

Advocates argue that the system not only ensures that the winning candidate receives the majority vote, but that there are no so-called spoiler candidates. Voters, they argue, can pick their top choice without fear of wasting their ballot. That’s because their second or third choice could ultimately help decide the winner, even if their first choice is eliminated.

The referendum campaign was launched in October 2014 by former independent State Sen. Dick Woodbury of Yarmouth, and Rep. Diane Russell, D-Portland. Woodbury.

The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting has received broad support from people of all political persuasions. In November 2014, the group announced it had 36,000 signatures on Election Day, more than half the total needed to put a question on the ballot.

The Secretary of State’s Office estimated that implementing ranked-choice voting would cost the state $837,270 in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, and $714,388 in the following fiscal year.

Those costs would cover printing an additional ballot page, updating and leasing new ballot tabulation machines and related equipment, and hiring two contract workers to oversee the vote-counting process.

Municipalities wouldn’t bear any costs related to State House races affected by RCV. That would fall to the Secretary of State, who would oversee the runoff process if one candidate doesn’t get a majority vote after the first count of ballots.

The Committee for RCV has accrued over $111,000 in donations, including $1,750 from the organization FairVote in Takoma Park, Maryland. FairVote is a national nonprofit that advocates for ranked-choice voting in other states.











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