To the editor:
There is a movement afoot called “ranked choice voting” that we are very interested in encouraging and endorsing in time for this current election cycle. On Election Day it will appear as a referendum question to bring ranked choice voting to future Maine elections. Please read this letter, do your own research and then vote in favor of this reform when you vote this November.
Here’s why it would be perfect for Maine. Being a state of independent thinkers, we have a lot of third party candidates. These are often referred to as ‘spoilers’ and not taken very seriously. People hesitate to vote for their first choice, as it might seem as though their vote will be wasted. Instead, voters sometimes restrict their choices between two “winnable” candidates. But no vote should ever be wasted, no Maine citizen should ever not be heard.
It works like this. In a three-person race, you have the option of filling in a bubble indicating your first choice, second choice, and third choice. If no-one wins the majority of votes, that is, 50 percent plus one, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his or her voters have their “second choice” rankings added to the top two’s tallies. When those rankings are added, the winner is the one with the strongest support. That candidate was able to win with the backing of a majority. This is all done with one ballot on Election Day. Why not? We make ranked choices every day of our lives in many aspects of our lives.
It sounds so simple and makes so much sense that it is difficult to find the downside. It certainly will prevent a candidate from winning when he or she received less than 40 percent of the popular vote, which has happened in nine of the last 11 races for governor. As we said earlier, do your own research and when you do I believe you will agree with us and be part of the movement towards ranked choice voting.
