Support bill for presidential Ranked Choice Voting

To the Editor;
A majority of Maine voters twice approved Ranked Choice Voting at the ballot box over the past several years. But, we still don’t have it for the 2020 presidential election. That’s because the Maine Legislature must act.

Lawmakers are now considering a bill, LD 1083, that would adopt Ranked Choice Voting for the presidential general election and for any new presidential primary that is created and funded by the Maine Legislature. Passage of this bill is required to give voters more voice and more choice in what may be the most consequential, if not most crowded, presidential election in our lifetimes.

I support Ranked Choice Voting because I think majority winners are important. I long for the days of more civil campaigns and a return to voting by your conscience, not by your party.

Ranked Choice Voting is an opportunity for Republican and Democratic parties, along with independents and the Green Party, to present their best candidates for general election. Ranked Choice Voting is also an opportunity for Americans, whatever their political persuasion, to show up at the polls on election day and vote for the candidate they like the best without worrying about vote-splitting or wasted votes.

According to exit surveys, Maine voters had no problems figuring out how to rank their choices in the 2018 primary and general elections. In fact, a growing majority of Maine voters expressed their support for the transition and 62 percent of Maine voters reported that they wanted majority winners, which Ranked Choice Voting achieves efficiently and effectively.

I encourage lawmakers of both parties and independents to support LD 1083.

Dr. Kevin Chasse
Dover-Foxcroft