Maine voters again support ranked choice voting

Bangor Daily News - Maine voters again endorsed ranked-choice voting, passing a ballot question that keeps alive the first-in-the-nation election system.

With a majority of key precincts reporting, the “yes” vote held a solid lead with 55 percent of the total vote.

Ranked-choice voting has been on a roller coaster ever since being enacted by referendum in November 2016. Opposition was fueled in May 2017 when an advisory opinion from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said the system was partially unconstitutional because of language in the Maine Constitution that calls for general elections in Maine to be decided by pluralities.