Delegates at the Republican State Convention voted Friday morning that the party wants to nominate candidates by plurality instead of ranked-choice voting, which preceded the filing of a federal lawsuit in federal court.
The convention adopted a new rule calling for members of Congress, the governor and legislators to be nominated as they have been in the past: by an election in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins the nomination. The rule was enacted Friday morning unanimously and without debate and was followed closely by the filing of the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Bangor.
Jason Savage, the party’s executive director, argued that the First Amendment protects the GOP’s right “to select our nominees the way we choose, and that will be the traditional method.”
“We hope the court will expedite our request and act quickly to protect our rights to select our nominee the way we choose,” Savage said.
Kyle Bailey, a leader of the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, called Friday’s suit a “last-ditch” attempt by opponents to confuse voters.
