Support LD 1083, Ranked Choice Voting

Editor,

I am writing in support of LD 1083, Senate President Troy Jackson’s bill to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for presidential primaries and general elections. I ask the Maine Senate to enact this bill right away so Ranked Choice Voting can be implemented in time for the March 2020 presidential primary.

The Maine State Legislature is running out of time to enact LD 1083. The presidential primary is only six months from now. With more than 20 Democratic candidates and at least three Republican candidates, we need Ranked Choice Voting to avoid vote-splitting and elect majority winners.

LD 1083 proposes a simple expansion of Maine’s existing Ranked Choice Voting system that worked well in 2018. In fact, six other states are adopting Ranked Choice Voting for 2020 presidential primaries and causes based on the successful implementation of this voting system in Maine last year.

Under current election law, Ranked Choice Voting is used in every federal primary and general election in Maine except for the presidential election. LD 1083 would align the letter of the law with the intent of Maine voters who want to use Ranked Choice Voting in all elections, and not just in some.

Maine has an opportunity to lead again on election reform and play an important role in both the Democratic presidential primary and the presidential election.

I have worked since the fall of 2014 to pass Ranked Choice Voting in our state. In a democracy, electing representatives of the people should demonstrate what the majority of voters favor, not simply who gets the most votes. Often in past elections before Ranked Choice Voting was passed by a majority of Maine voters, the winner won the most votes but not the majority, so the elected representative/leader was often supported by only a narrow segment of the total population of voters.

Let’s pass LD 1083 to make our voting consistent throughout all of our elections and give voters the full voice they deserve.

Sign In: