Word: Ranked choice voting

Senator Dave Miramant, Free Press - On October 19, the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting submitted over 70,000 signatures to secure access on the November 2016 statewide ballot. Their proposal to use ranked choice voting for federal and state primary and general elections is a common-sense update to our voting system that has been embraced by Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Greens and Libertarians across the state.

Ranked choice voting makes sense for Maine. In a state where multi-candidate races are the norm, this system gives voters the freedom to use their ballots to rank the candidates they like in order of preference, while the counting process works like an “instant runoff” to ensure that a majority of voters pick the candidate who can best represent them. In an election climate where many voters are concerned about splitting the vote, this is a great opportunity to have our voices heard at every step of the process.

Ranked choice voting would restore a sense of integrity to participation in the political process. Voters would have the power to support their favorite candidates, without the fear of inadvertently helping to elect their least favorite candidates.