Support ranked-choice voting

To the Editor;
On November 8, 2016, Maine voters overwhelmingly favored a citizens’ referendum for Ranked-Choice Voting. Since that exciting moment in the political history of the United States (Maine being the first state to pass a referendum for the ranking of votes for state legislature, governorship and Maine’s four congressional delegates), the Judiciary and Senate have done their part to put this bill before our House of Representatives for a two-thirds vote for a constitutional change.

Maine’s constitution calls for candidates to be selected by plurality, in which the candidate with the most votes wins, even if the vote total is less than a majority. This Ranked-Choice Voting bill calls for a constitutional amendment to replace ‘plurality’ with ‘majority’.

To quote Senator Cathy Breen, D-Falmouth:
“Voters demanded election reform, and it’s our responsibility to ensure they get it. Ranked-choice voting gives voters more choices, and encourages candidates to run campaigns that appeal to voters outside their normal base of support. And perhaps most importantly, it eliminates the ‘spoiler effect,’ giving voters the ability to cast their ballots for the candidate they truly prefer, not just the one they think has the best chance of winning.”

The bill goes now before the House of Representatives. If passed by two-thirds, the amendment will become a final ballot vote by the citizens of Maine. Contact your Representative to encourage a vote in favor of this important democracy-strengthening change to our state’s constitution by calling the State House at (207) 287-1400.
Sidney Mitchell
Dover-Foxcroft