Lawmakers on the Veterans and Legal Affairs (VLA) Committee are divided along partisan lines over whether or not to advance a proposal to repeal ranked choice voting.
While all Republicans on the committee voted in support of doing away with the controversial system, all Democrats opposed this effort.
LD 234 — An Act to Eliminate Ranked-Choice Voting — was sponsored by Rep. Richard H. Campbell (R-Orrington) and cosponsored by Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata (R-New Gloucester), Rep. Irene A. Gifford (R-Lincoln), Rep. Randall Adam Greenwood (R-Wales), Rep. Abigail W. Griffin (R-Levant), Rep. Shelley Rudnicki (R-Fairfield), Rep. Michael Soboleski (R-Phillips), and Rep. Tiffany Strout (R-Harrington).
In the wake of the November 5 election — during which a number of critical state, local, and federal races were on the ballot — ranked choice voting took center stage for many Mainers, especially in light of the complications it caused in the highly contested Second District U.S. House race between incumbent Rep. Jared Golden (D) and Maine State Rep. Austin Theriault (R-Fort Kent).
Because neither of these candidates won over fifty percent of votes cast — due in large part to a significant number of “blank” first-choice selections and the presence of a declared write-in candidate — Secretary of State Shenna Bellows determined that the state was forced to initiate ranked choice procedures.
After an initial ranked choice tabulation, Rep. Golden claimed victory when the count showed him as having secured more than fifty percent of the vote in District 2.
[RELATED: BREAKING — Maine CD-2 Race Headed for “Ranked Choice Voting” Disaster as Golden Falls Below 50%]
Mainers took the first step toward using ranked choice voting in 2016 when voters approved a citizens initiative by a margin of about 32,000 votes or 4.2 percent.
Following a recount and certification, An Act to Establish Ranked-Choice Voting was enacted and set to take effect for the 2018 election.
After quite a bit of controversy and a People’s Veto effort, the Kennebec County Superior Court ordered the Secretary of State to begin using ranked choice voting immediately in the upcoming 2018 primary elections.
This marked the first statewide use ranked choice voting in the country.
Ranked choice voting went on to play a major role in the November 2018 election, as the system resulted in longtime Republican District 2 Representative Bruce Poliquin losing his reelection bid, paving the way for Golden to first take office.
[RELATED: Ranked Choice Voting — A Brief History for Maine and the Nation]
When introducing this bill to repeal the system, Rep. Campbell highlighted the distaste for ranked choice voting that he has witnessed emerging in Maine.
“In talking with constituents and other voters across the State, l have become increasingly aware that many find ranked-choice voting to be complex and confusing,” he said. “Citizens are unsure when the system applies or how to complete what should be a simple ballot.”
“A growing consensus is that ranked-choice voting violates the belief in ‘one person, one vote,’ leaving much of the electorate feeling confused and frustrated when the candidate with the most votes loses as a result of applying second choices,” he added.
“Plurality voting has been accepted and worked for decades,” he argued. “Change for the sake of change does not always reap the desired results.”
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows testified against this proposal, arguing that implementation of the new voting system was easy and that voters appreciate the extra choice at the ballot box.
“Since its implementation, we have found voters appreciate the option to rank the candidates on their ballots, and that they have found it easy to vote in this manner,” Bellows said. “As it is exactly how we rank choices on all sorts of things every day — what to make for dinner for our families each night, what music to put on the radio, where to go on vacation — implementing ranked choice for voting was not difficult.”
“We also feel that voters appreciate the option to vote their heart, rather than having to stress and worry that voting for their favorite candidate in a plurality election may end up helping their least favorite candidate win, that they will have to vote for the lesser of two evils, or that their decision will split the vote,” she continued. “Voter frustration, often found in that plurality voting, does not always accurately reflect the will of the majority; and this is one of the reasons Maine voters chose [ranked choice voting].”
Nationwide, ranked choice voting is not a common means by which citizens cast their ballots in primary or general elections. To date, the system has only been approved statewide in Alaska, Hawaii, and Washington DC.
There are a number of municipalities that have adopted ranked choice voting for local elections, including in California, New York, and Minnesota, among others.
Alaska narrowly rejected an effort in November to repeal its open primary and ranked choice voting system, with just 737 votes separating support from opposition, representing only .2 percent of votes cast.
Now that the VLA Committee has weighed in on Maine’s attempt to repeal ranked choice voting, it will now go before the full Legislature for further consideration.
“We also feel that voters appreciate the option to vote their heart”… In other words Don’t worry, we’ll pick for you.” One person, one vote. Is that too hard to understand?
The genesis for rigged choice voting goes back to Governor Baldacci’s campaign for a second term. Governor King had bankrupted the State and Governor Baldacci was not popular trying to deal with the fallout. The Dems put up a phony “conservative independent” in the form of Barbara Merrill. Mrs. Merrill just happened to be the wife of the President of one of the civil servant labor organizer locals (SEIU?). Her candidacy stole votes from Chandler Woodcock and Governor Baldacci won with 38%. The civil servant labor organizers and Dems LOVE rigged choice voting…..
Democrats were fine with a candidate winning with less than 50% of the vote until LePage won. Even the perv in the barn coat wanted people to go and be able to change their vote after the fact when LePage won.
One man, one vote, period
The Maine State Constitution still says a candidate wins with a plurality
It does not say majority
That means whoever gets the most votes wins
But law and order Janet Mills and her pals in the Legislature ignore inconvenient laws as we see just about every week so…..
If the country had ranked choice voting like Maine, Abraham Lincoln would never have been president, nor would’ve Bill Clinton
the so called partisan divide didn’t emerge it has always been a Democrat issue to manipulate and cheat in elections.
No way Shenna lets go of this as her ability to make up new rules under RVC as SOS is her plan to steal the governor’s office.
As Judge Walker succinctly put it in his opinion, “the point is that ‘one person, one vote’ does not stand in opposition to ranked balloting, so long as all electors are treated equally at the ballot.”
“The Maine State Constitution still says a candidate wins with a plurality
It does not say majority
That means whoever gets the most votes wins
But law and order Janet Mills and her pals in the Legislature ignore inconvenient laws as we see just about every week so….”
Commentor is right. The Maine constitution does say a candidate can win with a plurality. I guess Commentor has forgotten, we do NOT use RCV for any state office. Maine High Court says it is not offensive to our constitution to RCV for other offices, our reps in Congress and the President.
Both can play the same game only causing the taxpayers more.
Dump rank choice voting!
Democrats only want it in place so they can steal votes. Besides without it they can’t cheat.
The voting scam where The Losers get to pick The Winner .
I don’t even have to read this article to know that the Democrats want this to continue .
It is BULLSHIT and is against the Maine Constitution. “ The plurality of the vote “ means for the slow kids that the person who gets the MOST votes when the ballots are counted .
NOT THE SECOND TIME THEY ARE COUNTED ….NOT THE THIRD TIME ….NOT THE FOURTH
Democrats want to count the votes as many times as it takes for them to win .
So they flood the ballot with a whole bunch of idiots for the losers to choose .
A couple more years here and we’re headed back down south . I’m not dying in Maine so they can have my money . We left for thirty fives years so we could earn a decent living and then came back .
Now I’m thinking we should have had our heads examined before we arrived . Maine has become way too f*@ked up to stay here much longer . It’s too bad Maine USED to be a great place .
It’s a stupid law and one devised to make people believe they really have a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th choice. It muddies the waters and I would encourage everyone if we can’t get rid of it then when you vote use all the boxes for the same person you are voting for!!
With the lowest math and reading scores in the nation, the RCV is designed to confuse these voting citizens. BS on Bellows claim that voters find this cheating system to be easy and obvious.
Just the sheer number of empty first choice ballots tell the story of ‘gamesmanship’ with an election ballot process. There is no room for cute number games with voting. Study the candidates, the issues, and vote for ONE. Call ranked choice voting what it is – cheating. And ask, why does the Democratic party endorse cheating? Because they will do ANYTHING to stay in power and feed off of the hard-working people of Maine.
The Democrats will never give up on their Rigged Election Tool or “Ranked Choice Voting” It is clear that after several elections under the Democratic sponsored RCV that it benefits their Plan in counting until the outcome of the vote is in their favor?
I have nothing against Jarod Golden, but he has never and would have never won his seat without rank choice voting!
On another note:
I knew that Maine was in big trouble when Janet Mills was elected governor! I chose at that time to leave the State of Maine. I knew Janet would be the complete ruination of our once “Great State of Maine” The freedoms and simple life that Maine was so well known for would be demolished by her! And 6 years later, unfortunately for Mainers, I was right!
I am so glad that I I had the foresight and ability to leave Maine! The Vacationland State that I grew up and lived most of life, until Janet Mills reign, is now unrecognizable. She has been allowed to turn my home state into a dysfunctional laughing stock of the country. I have absolutely no desire to return to Maine until I am entered into the ground with my family and even that is debatable at this point. I am certain that Janet will find a way to Screw That Up Too in the next two years!
Wake up Mainers and put a stop to this Evil Government ruination of your state. Get together and run her and her cronies out of office. The people of Maine need to rise and take their state back!
Ranked Choice Voting is something dreamed up in the back office of the DNC to thieve any close election to allow a democrat win. We were so stupid to allow this in Maine. Even Massachusetts was smart enough not to vote this in in their state.
Shenna “WHAT’S FOR DINNER” Bellows is completely wrong on this one. How RCV works is there is 1 republican running, and 4 liberal democrats, so whoever you vote for, a liberal democrat will win. Plus who wants to cast a vote for someone you have no idea who they are or what they stand for???