Maine’s highest court revisited the issue of ranked-choice voting Wednesday as groups push to use the process in gubernatorial elections.
Maine already uses ranked-choice voting in all federal elections but only in the general elections for governor and the Legislature. That’s because the Maine Constitution says those elections are decided by a “plurality” of votes. And in a 2017 advisory opinion, Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court determined that the plurality calculation occurs the first time votes are counted, thereby precluding the additional rounds of tabulations needed during a ranked-choice election.
A bill pending in the Legislature, LD 1666, aims to get over that hurdle by specifying that a plurality is only calculated at the end of the ranked-choice process. If enacted, the bill could have major implications for the fall gubernatorial elections. That’s because voters will likely have at least three choices on the ballot, which would trigger a ranked-choice election
Lawmakers asked the supreme court to re-examine the issue as they consider the proposed changes.
During Wednesday’s oral arguments, justices peppered the two attorneys arguing for the changes about the definition of “plurality” and their contention that voters’ first-round selections should be regarded as “preferences” rather than votes.
At one point, Justice Rick Lawrence told the attorney representing Senate President Mattie Daughtry and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau that it is clearly a plurality after the first round.
“It is a plurality in terms of what’s been counted at that juncture,” Lawrence told Peter Brann. “You can come up with rules beyond that. But you still have a plurality.”
Chief Justice Valerie Stanfill then chimed in, adding “We all know who had a plurality on the first ballot.”
But Brann replied, “But it’s not a plurality if the counting process is not done.”
Justices also questioned why the proponents were trying to change the law instead of addressing the discrepancy with a proposed constitutional amendment. After all, justices pointed out, many other changes to Maine’s voting process — such as the allowance of absentee voting — were brought about through constitutional amendments.
Stanfill also pressed attorney David Kallin with the League of Women Voters of Maine why the court should take up this issue again just nine years after the last advisory opinion?
“Isn’t this question essentially, ‘We didn’t like your answer in 2017. Try again?’” Stanfill said.
Kallin responded that there is nothing in the constitution that prevents the Legislature from exercising its authority to improve the voting process.
“Ranked-choice voting is a better way of electing candidates because it identifies a candidate with the most popular support,” Kallin said. “It is a good policy.”
But the justices also asked probing questions of attorneys on the other side of the issue, so it is unclear how the court will come down on the issue.
At the end of the oral arguments, Stanfill said the justices are cognizant of the fact that the Legislature is slated to wrap up its work by mid-April. So she said the court will render an advisory decision “in due course.”
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
