The League of Women Voters of Maine has been providing the public with election information and working to enhance and protect our democracy for almost 100 years.
In 2008 LWVME launched the ranked choice voting effort in Maine. For over five years LWVME worked to analyze the benefits of RCV, study how it could be implemented in Maine, and engage in public conversations about this concept.
Approximately four years ago LWVME engaged with other partners to draft RCV legislation and develop a pathway to public approval and implementation.
After several legislative and judicial attempts to prevent the use of ranked choice voting in the June 2018 primary election, those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful and the Maine Department of the Secretary of State released the ballots for the June election and began the process of implementation. With the people’s veto on the ballot in June, not only did Mainers have the unique opportunity to use ranked choice voting in a statewide election for the first time in our nation’s history, they also voted to continue the use of ranked choice voting for some races moving forward.
While a constitutional conflict prevents the use of RCV for gubernatorial and legislative races in general elections, Mainers will use ranked choice voting to select candidates for US House of Representatives and US Senate in the November 2018 midterm elections and will continue to use it for primary elections for state legislature, governor, and the US House and Senate. We will not use ranked choice voting in the general elections races for governor and state legislature. We would need a constitutional amendment to allow that for the future.
Mainers who did not vote in the June 2018 primary election will be using RCV for the first time this fall. Therefore, the LWVME will continue its education and outreach efforts to voters, election officials, and candidates through the Maine Uses Ranked Choice Voting initiative, to assist in the smooth implementation of RCV in the general election and ensure that all voters to have their say in the best traditions of our democracy.
The LWVME and Maine Uses Ranked Choice Voting are entirely non-partisan and exclusively educational and do not endorse candidates or political parties. More information can be found here.
We encourage all voters to explore this site to find out more about RCV. Please also visit www.LWVME.org and www.mainecleanelections.org for information about the organizations behind this project.
For additional questions please contact Sarah Rawlings by phone at (207) 653-5157, or email sarah@mainerankedchoice.vote