I learned some things while spending 13 hours at the Portland polls in November 2014 and 10 hours at the Gray polls in June 2015 collecting signatures for ranked-choice voting.

• First, I learned that when people have experience with ranked-choice voting, they enthusiastically support it. Of the approximately 460 people who talked with me at the polls in Portland, 439 took time to sign my petition. It was not just an easy sell. People were eager to sign my petition, often waiting in line to do so.

A survey of voters at Portland polling places on Election Day in 2014 showed that an astounding 94.2 percent of voters said that they found the voting instructions and ballot design easy to understand.

• Second, when people do not have experience, as I found in Gray, while I met many who were delighted and signed quickly, some were skeptical, frequently thinking that it is way more complicated than it is. When I explained it, overwhelmingly, people nodded in agreement and signed.

• Third, those who were reluctant to endorse ranked-choice voting were frequently folks who suspected that it was a partisan issue, a device to derail the current governor. When we pointed out that it would have been useful in races won by Democrats (John Baldacci, twice), Republicans (Bruce Poliquin) and independents (Angus King), many of the partisans signed.

• Fourth, I talked to people from Australia, Ireland and India, three countries that have all had ranked-choice voting for years. Those three people thought it should be used everywhere.

It works.

Let’s bring it to Maine.

Mike Miles

Portland