A majority of Mainers have voted twice to enact ranked-choice voting and two Democratic representatives are set on making sure the state’s Constitution reflects the will of its people.
State Sen. Justin Chenette (D-Saco), Rep. Janice Cooper (D-Yarmouth), and Rep. Chris Babbidge (D-Kennebunk) are sponsoring resolutions (LD 1196 , LD 1477 , LD 1365) to advance a constitutional amendment that would require candidates for governor, state senator, and state representative to be elected via ranked-choice voting, rather than a simple plurality of votes. Mainers would have the opportunity to vote in favor or against this amendment at the ballot.
The bills were presented before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Maine’s Constitution requires that state-level candidates win by a plurality, rather than a majority, of votes in general elections. This language does not exist in the U.S. Constitution, making Maine’s ranked-choice voting law applicable to state primaries and federal elections. Last November, U.S. Rep. Jared Golden became the first federal official to win his seat in a race decided by ranked-choice voting.
Republicans legislators are attempting to go in the other direction, proposing legislation to overturn the voter-approved ranked-choice voting law. Chenette believes elected officials need to respect the decision of their constituents when it comes to voter-approved initiatives like ranked-choice voting.
“I would hope elected officials would want to respect the will of the voters without being mandated to do so, but it has become abundantly clear that we can’t trust elected officials to do that,” said Chenette, referencing both the attempted repeals of voter-mandated ranked-choice voting and the successful repeal of a 3-percent tax surcharge on the wealthy in previous legislative sessions.
“Voter intent was clear: Maine wants statewide elected officials to be chosen by a true majority,” said Anna Keller, executive director of Democracy Maine. “Passage of either of these bills is an essential demonstration of respect for the will of the people.”
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