Maine legislators weigh expanding state's ranked-choice voting system

[RandySF]

On Feb. 10, Maine legislators approved a bill requiring the use of ranked-choice voting to elect the governor and members of the state legislature. Before advancing the legislation to Gov. Janet Mills (D), the legislature is waiting for advice from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

In the ranked-choice voting system currently used in Maine, a candidate who wins a majority of first-preference votes is the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.

Ballots that ranked an eliminated candidate as their first or highest choice, depending on the round, are then reevaluated and counted as first-preference ballots for the next-highest-ranked candidate in that round. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of ballots. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.

In 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, which authorized the use of RCV for all congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections.


https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/21/maine-legislators-weigh-expanding-states-ranked-choice-voting-system/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. We loved this here in STLMO, but the republicans here do not like it at all! There's already been a few attempts to

repel it, if not already done yet.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. Republicans love 3rd Party candidates. The majority splits and the Minority sneaks in. RCV changes the voting equation

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Yes, this too. There's no end to the tricks they have up their sleeves. They did catch one (I think here in MO)

that was a 'fake' candidate to run against a democrat and grab some of the democratic votes, allowing the repugs to win. They nailed the guy for a fake candidacy, but I don't know if the candidate won or if they did, if they took the win away. I'll have to dig into some more. I could have sworn that they did take it away (the win) but it's been too long and my memory is not doing good this evening. If I do recall, I'll update my post.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Ranked Choice Voting....or. as I like to say, the "Solution to Paul LePage's".