Supporters of a new Maine law that sets up the nation’s first ranked-choice voting system rallied Thursday at the State House and called on lawmakers to implement portions of the law that have not been called into question by the state’s highest court. Voters approved ranked-choice voting through a ballot question last November, but the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an advisory opinion in late May that found the parts of the law affecting candidates for governor and the Legislature were in conflict with the Maine Constitution, which calls for candidates to be selected by a plurality and not necessarily the majority required under the ranked-choice system.
… The Maine Constitution calls for candidates to be selected by a plurality, in which the candidate with the most votes wins, even if the vote total is less than 50 percent.
Supporters of the new law said the court opinion found no issues with the law as it pertains to elections for the U.S. Congress or for the selection of candidates in party primaries.
Full Article: Supporters of ranked-choice voting call on legislators to adopt parts of law – Portland Press Herald.