Maine to allow ranked votes in general presidential election

ranked-choice-votingelectoral-reformmainepolitics

Abstraction: Maine becomes first state to extend ranked choice voting to general presidential elections

Key points:

Gov. Janet Mills allowed legislation to become law without signature in September 2019, requiring ranked choice voting in all presidential elections and primaries
Maine voters originally approved RCV in 2016, limited to federal races and primaries; new law extended it to general presidential contests
Under RCV, voters rank 3+ candidates in order of preference; if no candidate exceeds 50%, the last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed until a majority winner emerges
Estimated cost of a ranked-choice primary: ~$100,000; the law lacked explicit funding appropriation, which Mills cited as a concern
FairVote CEO Rob Richie argued the law could boost independent/third-party candidates in Maine, one of two states that allocates electoral votes by congressional district
US District Judge Lance Walker ruled in December 2018 that criticism of RCV "falls short of constitutional impropriety," rejecting a Republican congressman's legal challenge

Connections: Fairvote · Ranked Choice Voting · Electoral Systems