How Maine got to this juncture of political chicanery with “Ranked Choice Voting” is pretty clear. Money and lots of it, the vast majority coming from out-of-state left-wing activist groups determined to prevent another conservative governor from being elected. Maine is the cheap date of the progressive left; with plenty of money to pay canvassers for signatures and population centers in southern Maine to flood with feel-good slogans for unaware voters, they love the odds here.

The number of PACs that were formed, de-formed, re-formed, funded, terminated, and swapped hid where the real money came from. To see who got paid for what one must go to the Maine Election Commission website. Here is a good lesson in how to sell out to left-wing interests funded mostly from outside Maine. Ever heard of The Chamberlain

Project PAC? The Proteus Piper Fund? Leveling the Playing Field? The Democracy Fund? America Elects? Fairvote? These are some of the big money, shifting sands behind the referendum push to “change Maine”. Needed $30,000 last week? Level the Playing Field of Alexandria,Va. tossed it in to push this vote yet again. Pocket change to them.

Examine the campaign finance records here to see where the money comes from out-of-state. These left-wing groups bankrolled the push to jam thru Ranked Choice Voting, and they expect you to believe they have Maine’s best interests at heart because they “know better” how voters should be able to vote than you do. That is just scratching the surface of the organizations determined to create another voter’s utopia in their ideological view.

By the time this column is printed, Maine will have experienced the first state-wide primary election using this very confusing system. Even the California system using this currently is described as a “jungle primary” due to the fractious nature of the campaigns and number of candidates running. Naturally the candidates there have figured a way to game the system to move forward as votes are tallied, hoping for an instant runoff if they get to the #2 slot.

All of this costs the state taxpayers money. A charitable guess by Maine Secretary of State, Matthew Dunlap, is that the current primary election being done by Ranked Choice will add “about $110,000” in costs. My bet is it costs far more than that, and ends up being very confusing with “spoiled ballots” being a source of much more confusion.

Then there is the judgment of the Maine Supreme that Ranked Choice Voting violates the terms of the Maine Constitution. Proponents argue this is splitting hairs, and not to worry. It is only when the legal hair being split goes against their agenda that it is a “hair,” otherwise it would be “settled law.” The political left’s view is always heads-I-win/tails-you-lose. Probably until a Republican wins a Ranked Choice runoff, the people pushing this unconstitutional mess will continue to claim it is the path to voter utopia. Then it won’t be.

Another View is written on a rotating basis by a member of a group of Midcoast citizens that meet to discuss issues they think are of public interest.