Maine has another chance to lead the nation in 2020 by enacting reform to our currently ailing political system. This week in Augusta our legislature will vote on LD 1083, a bill that would enable Maine to be the first state to use ranked-choice voting in our presidential elections. We already use RCV to elect our US House and Senate candidates – it only makes sense to extend its use to all federal elections in our state.
The bill includes RCV in primaries as well, but that will depend on Maine’s ability to convert from a presidential caucus to a primary state. LD 1083 will not change the proportional allocation of Electoral College votes by congressional district. Maine has 4 electoral college votes: 2 are awarded to the statewide RCV winner, 1 vote to the RCV winner of the 1st congressional district, 1 vote to the RCV winner of the 2nd congressional district. If you want to encourage political parties to nominate candidates who can gain the support of a majority of Maine citizens, please let your state representatives know (Soon!) that you support LD 1083.
Charlotte Brown,
Bath
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