The Maine Republican Party (GOP) launched its latest Challenge to Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) Friday, Changing Party Rules and Filing a Federal Lawsuit that would Block the Secretary of State from employing the Voter-Approved system in the Party’s Primary on June 12th. The Party announced the Suit shortly after Delegates at its Biannual Convention Voted Unanimously to Change the Party’s Platform Rules to say they preferred using a Plurality Vote in their Primary.
“We feel the case law and precedent are clear, and that forcing Republicans to change the way we nominate our candidates is a clear violation of our First Amendment rights,” said Jason Savage, the Executive Director of the Maine Republican Party. “We hope the court will expedite our request and act quickly to protect our right to select our nominee the way we choose.”
The Secretary of State's Office already has Printed the June 12th Primary Ballots in a RCV Format and recently posted extensive Voter Education Materials on the State website, putting Maine on Track to become the First State in the Nation to use the RCV system in a Statewide Election.
Kyle Bailey, a Spokesman for the Committee on Ranked Choice Voting, called the move “a political stunt” that was not supported by all Republicans. “Opponents of ranked-choice voting have been relentless in the last six months,” Bailey said. “They have pulled out all the stops to try and undermine ranked-choice voting, but what they are doing is undermining our elections.”
Scott Ogden, a Spokesman for the Maine Democratic Party, said Democrats would abide by the Ballot Box Law in the Primary Election regardless the Outcome of the Federal Litigation launched by Republicans. “The Maine Democratic Party has every intention of following the law and respecting the will of Maine people, who have said repeatedly that they want to elect their leaders through ranked-choice voting,” Ogden said. “We’re disappointed that the Maine Republican Party thinks they know better than the majority of Mainers.”
The Committee on Ranked Choice Voting ran the Campaign to establish the First-in-the-Nation system, which was supported by 52% of Maine Voters in a November 2016 Referendum. “If Maine Republican Party leaders and the activists and party leaders in this convention hall want to pick up the tab for their own primary they can conduct their primary the way the want to,” Bailey said. “But Maine taxpayers are picking up the tab for their election and a majority of Maine taxpayers voted for ranked-choice voting – including a heck of a lot of Republicans.”
The Federal Suit is the latest of several Legal Challenges to the RCV system. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a Ruling in April ordering that RCV be used in the June Primary. The Ruling upheld a Decision by a Kennebec County Superior Court Justice that Ordered the Secretary of State to move forward with the system.
The Legislature Repealed RCV in October 2017 after Legal concerns were raised about whether the system Violates the Maine Constitution. But the Repeal Law has been put on hold, after RCV Supporters collected some 80,000 Voter Signatures to Launch a People’s Veto of the Law. The People’s Veto Proposal also will be on the June 12th Primary Ballot. If it Passes, RCV will apply to Primary Elections for Governor and the Legislature, and to Primary and General eEections for the U.S. House and Senate.
Savage, the Republican Party Director, said the Party had to wait until it Modified its Own Rules at the Convention Friday before it could File the Federal Lawsuit, which is why they waited until just Six Weeks before the Election to take Legal Action.
How quickly the Federal District Court will take the Case up is uncertain, but Joshua Dunlap, the Party’s Lawyer, said the Party is asking the Court to Expedite the Case.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
1 comment:
The Republican Party is not asking that ranked choice voting be derailed for other parties, nor for it to be derailed for the general election. So I think the title of this post is somewhat misleading. They are only trying to stop it for their own party's primary.
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