People of Maine want ranked-choice voting
Mainers have voted twice in favor of ranked-choice voting (RCV). They don’t want to vote again.
The Maine Ethics Commission reports that the Maine Republican Party recently laundered at least $250,000 in dark money to gather paid signatures on their Peoples’ Veto Referendum. If enough signatures are gathered, this would block use of RCV in the presidential election this November and instead place a question on the ballot to repeal RCV which would eliminate its use in all future presidential elections.
No. This is not right.
As a refresher, RCV is easy and fair for all Mainers (Republicans, Democrats and unaligned). In elections with more than two candidates, we can rank as many or as few as we wish in order of preference. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round (ballots are counted in rounds), then the candidate securing the least votes is eliminated and Mainers who voted for the eliminated candidate have their second choice counted in the next round. Ballot rounds continue until one candidate reaches a majority and wins.
RCV gives Mainers freedom to vote for the candidate they like best WITHOUT the worry of helping elect the candidate they like least.
Please decline to sign the petitions against RCV, and ask your friends and family to decline as well.
Janet Kolkebeck,
Topsham
A plea to stay safe, follow the guidelines
This is a plea for all Mainers to please practice social distancing while out in public and stay in if you are sick. These are scary times but we will be able to handle them better if we try to use common sense and have compassion for others. I have been social distancing for 2 weeks and it is not that hard to stay six feet away from others. People who are healthy, including older active folks and disabled people, still need to buy groceries, go to the post office, walk the dog, or walk for exercise. They DON’T need you to walk right up into their space or rush in if they drop something and pick it up, even in normal times you should ask first if they need help.
It reduces anxiety to greet and wave but stay your distance. There are many ways to make things better for others. Check on them by phone, send them a friendly text, shop for them if they are isolating, leaving the things for them in a bag or box outside. It’s hard but really necessary to keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed. So many people think only the older folks are at risk, but if you look at the numbers in Maine alone, 57% of the people who have tested positive are 50’s and under. No one is immune and even if a person gets a mild case they can carry and spread the virus to others who might get quite sick. If hospitals don’t have all the ventilators they need and too many people get sick at once, people will die who could have lived. That is why we do everything in our power to protect not just ourselves, but others.
Please follow the guidelines set out by the CDC, MCDC and our governor that we all might live to celebrate the end of this virus.
Susan Chichetto,
Bath
