AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey is breaking with Democratic legislative leaders, arguing before the state’s high court that their push to expand ranked-choice voting ahead of the November elections is unconstitutional.
The conflict centers on a bill introduced last year that aims to apply ranked-choice voting to general elections for governor and the Legislature. After a 2016 referendum, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous advisory opinion saying the method conflicts with a provision in the Maine Constitution that requires those races to be decided by a plurality.
Frey’s position is in line with that. It aligns him with Republicans who have resisted ranked-choice voting in Maine and other states and say the current expansion would add chaos to a busy set of 2026 elections, including a nationally targeted U.S. Senate race and an open governor’s race that includes crowded Democratic and Republican primaries.
Since 2018, Maine has used ranked-choice voting in primaries for state and federal office and general elections for Congress. The Democratic-led Legislature expanded it to presidential elections in 2020. Advocates have been trying to expand its use since then, but Republicans have the votes to block constitutional amendments on the subject.
So Democrats are trying a workaround. The bill from Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Bristol, would change definitions in the law to say the winner of a ranked-choice voting contest is also a plurality winner. The measure is on hold in the Legislature while Democrats seek an opinion from the high court on the constitutional question.
Frey, a Democrat, argued in a Friday brief that the legislation relies on “cosmetic changes” and “statutory wordsmithing” rather than substantive fixes. He said swapping terms does not alter the fact that the system prevents the plurality winner from claiming victory.
Moving forward without the court’s blessing, Frey warned, could cause “chaos in an election cycle already facing unprecedented threats of federal interference.” That is a criticism of President Donald Trump, but his position put him in line with the Republican National Committee, whose brief said the plurality requirement is designed to protect voters’ rights.
In a separate filing, Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, argued ranked-choice voting determines the “will of the people.” Supporters contend the 2017 opinion was issued before ranked-choice voting was implemented and widely understood in the state.
Advocates for the expansion, including the League of Women Voters of Maine, argued that the 1800s shift to a plurality standard was intended to prevent lawmakers from handpicking election winners, not to lock the state into a ballot design. Proponents also highlighted a 2022 decision from Alaska that upheld ranked-choice voting under a similar plurality provision.
The court is expected to act relatively quickly. Arguments will take place before the high court on April 1. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office, which took no position on the legality of the bill, told the court it needs a final decision by Aug. 25 to print ballots for the November election.
