Good morning from Augusta, where we’re awaiting what could be looked back on as a landmark decision in the effort to implement ranked-choice voting in Maine. The deadline is today.
There has been no word yet from Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office,though we’ve tried. That department’s elections division has been busy for the past several weeks verifying signatures on two petitions, which together tally more than 120,000 names. On Feb. 23, a citizen petition to create a taxpayer-funded universal home health care system was approved and the effort quickly pivoted to a second citizen petition involving ranked-choice voting. Supporters said in early February that they had collected some 72,000 signatures.
Supporters of RCV are trying to nullify the law that is currently on the books, which nullified the law they enacted by referendum in 2016. Current law states that the system won’t be implemented unless the Maine Constitution is amended by December 2021 — and if it isn’t ranked-choice voting will be stricken from Maine statutes.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “It’s a day of reckoning for Maine’s ranked-choice voting supporters,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Christopher Cousins, please follow this link to the BDN online.
