ME First State to Use RCV for Presidential Election

Maine will Officially become the First State to use Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) for a Presidential Election, the State’s Supreme Court Ruled Tuesday Sept. 8th, allowing Voters to Rank each Presidential Candidate in Order of Preference for the November Election.

Voters will be Able to Rank all Five Presidential Candidates that will Appear on the Ballot, in terms of Preference including: Donald Trump (R); Joe Biden (D); Jo Jorgensen (Libertarian); Howard Hawkins (Green), and Rocky De La Fuente (Alliance Party).

The System will also be in place for the First Time in a U.S. Senate Race: Incumbent Susan Collins(R); Sara Gideon(D); Max Linn (Independent); and Lisa Savage (Independent).

The System is also called “instant run-off voting,” because it Only goes into Effect if One Candidate isn’t the Top Pick on more than 50% of Ballots. If No Candidate Receives more than 50%, then the Lowest-Ranking Candidate in the First Round is Eliminated and Voters’ Second Choices are then Counted as Votes on the Next Rounds of Ballots, and the Process Repeats until One Candidate has more than 50% of the Vote.

Maine is also One of just Two States, along with Nebraska, that Split Votes based on Congressional District, which led to Trump picking up One of the State’s Four Electoral Votes in 2016.

Some Republicans contend the Voting System Violates the Principle of “one person, one vote.” The Maine Republican Party led a Petition that would have Blocked RCV for the November Election. The GOP Claimed they had gathered Enough Signatures to Force a Question to Appear on the Ballot where Voters would Decide whether they Wanted to use RCV for Future Presidential Elections, which would have Prevented RCV on Presidential Elections until Voters decided on that.

But the State’s Democratic Secretary of State said the Petition didn’t have enough Valid Signatures, Leading to the State Courts over the Issue.

UPDATE

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court still must Rule on an Underlying Appeal of Secretary of State, Matt Dunlap's Decision to Invalidate Signatures on a People's Veto Petition.

The Party Appealed Dunlap’s July Decision to Reject their Petition to a Cumberland County Superior Court Justice, who Ruled that the Signatures Collected by those Not Legally Registered at the time to Vote should be Counted.

That Ruling was Appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court on the Grounds, Justice Thomas McKeon, erred by Not Considering some of the Facts before him. The Facts included Evidence about the Voter Registration Requirement, Duplicate Signatures, and Signatures from People not Registered to Vote. That Left the Petition Drive at least 22 Signatures Short. In its Decision, the State’s Law Court found the Lower Court’s Decision is Automatically put On-Hold Pending the Outcome of the Appeal.










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