Constitutional amendment sought for Maine’s ranked-choice voting

(The Center Square) – Mainers have used ranked choice voting in federal elections but can’t use it for state races because it runs afoul of the state’s constitution.

Democratic lawmakers are making a push to change that in the new legislative session.

A proposal filed by Sen. David Miramant, D-Knox, would amend the state constitution to allow ranked choice voting in state and local races. He said the voting system is working and should be allowed for all elections.

“We need a constitutional amendment to eliminate the possibility of challenges,” Miramant said. “I’m looking forward to a good debate over it.”

The measure would need to pass with a two-thirds majority in the state House and Senate and win approval from Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who supports ranked choice.

Miramant said he expects a fight from Republican lawmakers, who have largely opposed the efforts to implement ranked choice voting.

The voting system helped Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden defeat Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin in 2018, sparking a legal battle over the results that was eventually tossed out.

Unlike the “winner-take-all” voting system, ranked choice requires voters to list candidates in order of preference. The system comes into play in crowded races when no candidate gets 50% of the votes. When that happens, the candidate who got the least votes is eliminated and their votes reallocated and retabulated until someone wins a majority.

Maine’s system, approved by voters in 2016, was used in the recent presidential election, congressional races and has survived repeal efforts and legal challenges.

Supporters of ranked choice say it ensures that winning candidates have broad support and gives voters the option of multiple choices.

Critics say ranked choice voting is too confusing and unconstitutional because it violates the principle of ‘one person, one vote.’ They argue that the winner-take-all-system is the best way to elect leaders, and extending it to the state Legislature and governor’s races would lead to political shenanigans.

“Essentially, this bill is akin to gerrymandering because it would allow the party in power to decide which voting system is used to elect candidates in the next election,” the Maine Heritage Policy Center wrote in a 2019 report, critiquing a similar proposed constitutional amendment. “The Maine Constitution, rather than politics, must be the official authority on how elections are decided in the State of Maine.”

The Maine Republican Party sued unsuccessfully to try to stop the state from using ranked choice in the recent presidential election. It was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.

While some U.S. cities have used ranked choice voting for years, Maine is the only state to make the switch broadly.

In 2019, lawmakers in at least 22 states introduced bills to adopt various forms of ranked choice voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

In Massachusetts voters rejected a proposal in the Nov. 3 elections to replace the state’s winner-take-all system with ranked choice voting.

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