Maine Primaries Could Use New Ranked Voting System
Advocates of ranked choice voting are celebrating today, as they submitted signatures that restore a law passed two years ago in Maine.
Two years ago, supporters of ranked choice voting were able to pass a citizens’ initiative that changed how elections are decided in Maine, but the initiative ran into some roadblocks. The state Supreme Court issued an advisory opinion concluding that there were constitutional problems with the initiative. The legislature then suspended ranked choice voting in order to consider a constitutional change to clear the way for the initiative. An effort to get a constitutional amendment out to the voters fell short, so ranked choice voting supporters turned to another section of the constitution, the so called “people’s veto,” and collected enough signatures to restore the suspended law.
“The state of Maine belongs to we the people,” Kyle Bailey, campaign manager for the group, told supporters at the State House Friday. “Augusta politicians grabbing power for themselves and their well-connected friends and their big campaign contributors will not stand. We are here today to shift power back to Maine people and away from special interests.”
Several supporters, including Cushing Samp of Saco, told stories of standing out in this winter’s very cold weather to collect signatures, even when the ink in their pens froze.
Read more: http://mainepublic.org/post/maine-primaries-could-use-new-ranked-voting-system
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