Editorials: I voted against ranked-choice voting. But I don’t support repealing the law. | Michael Carpenter/Bangor Daily News

Last November, I voted “no” on Question 5, the referendum that asked voters whether they wanted to enact ranked-choice voting for primary and general elections. I did so because, as a candidate for the Maine Senate, I shared concerns with voters in my district about the potential for confusion and depressed turnout, as well as the possibility of chaos taking hold in a disputed election caused by the system. In addition, as a Maine former attorney general, I concurred with the legal opinion presented by Attorney General Janet Mills that ranked-choice voting raised constitutional concerns.

After the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s unanimous advisory opinion last month that ranked-choice voting would be unconstitutional for use in three statewide elections, I decided to co-sponsor legislation — LD 1625 — to repeal the law in its entirety. But after listening to testimony and reviewing the facts, I changed my mind. I have always appreciated the importance and necessity of constitutional compliance, which is why I now support preserving all constitutional parts of this law. Lawmakers should not overrule the more than 388,000 Maine people from across the political spectrum who voted last November to enact ranked-choice voting, the second largest referendum vote in our state’s history. As I heard from some of these voters in public testimony, I realized they were rightfully astonished and offended by the prospect of full repeal. There is an opportunity for middle ground.

Maine: Who benefits from ranked-choice voting? | The Maine Wire

Mainers seem to take voting more seriously than citizens of other states. Our 2014 voter participation topped the nation at 59.3 percent. We beat the next highest, Wisconsin (56.9 percent), handily and ran way ahead of the 36.3 percent national average. Voters in conservative Texas (28.5) and liberal New York (28.8) appear woefully apathetic by comparison. We deduce a relationship between high participation rates and Mainers’ attraction to measures designed to improve the democratic process. The latest such measure concerns “Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV).” The Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, known as Question 5, was approved last November by a margin of 52 percent to 48. But the RCV passion didn’t suddenly grip the minds and imaginations of 388,273 Maine voters late some night in 2016. Persuasion was necessary. The Maine Commission on Government Ethics and Election Practices records reveal the names of the organized persuaders.

Maine: Ranked-choice voting bills go to full Legislature for debate | Portland Press Herald

A committee of lawmakers was unable to reach a consensus recommendation Thursday on two ranked-choice voting bills submitted in response to legal questions about the first-in-the-nation system approved by voters in November. In an often confusing work session, the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 6-6-1 on the bills. One sought to send a constitutional amendment to voters, and one proposed an outright repeal of the measure. The division means the full Legislature will have to decide which of five different options it likes best.

Maine: Lawmakers have five options on ranked-choice voting. Signs point to repeal. | Bangor Daily News

Protected by Maine’s high court, a key group of Democrats looks open to eventually joining Republicans in repealing the state’s pioneering ranked-choice voting law before the 2018 election. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous opinion in May finding the law unconstitutional after it passed with 52 percent support from voters in 2016, saying it violates a provision allowing elections to be won by a plurality — and not necessarily a majority — of votes. The opinion is non-binding, but it threw the law into question and led to dueling legislative proposals to deal with the problem: Senate Majority Leader Garrett Mason, R-Lisbon Falls, wants to repeal the law, while Sen. Catherine Breen, D-Falmouth, wants to amend the Constitution to allow it. With legislative Republicans and Gov. Paul LePage united on repealing the law, Democrats hold the cards on whether it’ll survive and, if so, in what form. Some key Democrats are open to repeal.

Maine: Lawmakers Debate How to Move Forward With Ranked Choice Voting Law | WABI

State lawmakers have little time to determine how to implement the ranked choice voting law that was passed by voters in November. Following the Maine Supreme Court’s advisory opinion that the law was in conflict with the state constitution, lawmakers have three options moving forward. The law, as it stands, would allow residents to rank their ballot choices from first to last in a system that ensures a candidate wins majority support. “Has anyone ever wondered why we are having so many citizen’s initiatives on ballots these days? It’s because the people of Maine think that they are not being heard by this legislature,” said Rep. Kent Ackley, (I). Some lawmakers support allowing the voting system to proceed in federal elections, as the questions of constitutionality pertain only to elections for governor and state lawmakers. Other legislators hope to amend Maine’s constitution to bring the full law into compliance.

Maine: Lawmakers hear passionate debate on ranked-choice voting | Portland Press Herald

Supporters and opponents of ranked-choice voting laid out their cases Friday during a sometimes-heated four-hour hearing on a first-in-the-nation election method that the state’s highest court says is unconstitutional. About two dozen people spoke to the Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee, with most urging members to keep ranked-choice voting as a way to depolarize an increasingly uncivil political landscape. “Ranked-choice voting encourages politicians to reach across lines … to appeal beyond their natural constituents to voters who pick them as a second or third choice,” said Amy Smith, a retired political scientist and the town clerk in Arrowsic. Smith, citing her own academic studies, said plurality voting is often associated with increasingly uncivil and sometimes violent campaigns, in which politicians appeal solely to their own bases, or core constituencies. “The surest way to rule their own base is to demean and disrespect the other side,” she said.

Maine: Supporters of ranked-choice voting call on legislators to adopt parts of law | Portland Press Herald

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.

Maine: A divided Maine Legislature will decide the fate of ranked-choice voting | Bangor Daily News

The implementation of ranked-choice voting hangs in limbo. The system, which election reform advocates have called a “better way to vote,” could be headed back to voters or could die at the hands of the Legislature, depending on what happens with two 11th-hour bills allowed into the legislative process on Thursday. Maine voters approved a change to ranked-choice voting last year after supporters gathered enough signatures to place it on the November ballot. But that law was ransacked this week in an advisory decision by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, which said the voting method would be in violation of the Maine Constitution. The Constitution states that Maine elections can be won by plurality. That means in a contest with more than two candidates, whoever receives the most votes wins even if that person doesn’t receive a majority of all votes cast.

Maine: Maine’s citizens passed ‘ranked-choice voting.’ Why did Republicans shoot it down? | The Washington Post

Last fall, Maine voters passed an experiment in voting that no state has ever before tried: ranked-choice voting. It’s an experiment some say could change the national calculus against third parties, as I’ll explain below. But the state’s Republican-led Senate asked Maine’s Supreme Court to rule on the system — and the court recently issued an advisory ruling that ranked-choice violates the state constitution. So why would anyone be interested in ranked-choice voting — and why are Maine’s Republicans fighting it? Okay, what’s ranked-choice voting, and why would it be unconstitutional? A voter ranks candidates from one to six. If no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, the last-placed candidate is dropped. Ballots for the dropped candidate move to the next-ranked person on each ballot.

Maine: Supreme Judicial Court rules ranked-choice voting unconstitutional | Bangor Daily News

Maine’s high court said Tuesday that the state’s first-in-the-nation ranked-choice voting system is unconstitutional, throwing the voter-approved law into jeopardy ahead of the key 2018 campaign when it was supposed to be implemented. In a unanimous, 44-page opinion issued Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s seven justices agreed with Attorney General Janet Mills, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap and Republican legislators that the system violates a provision of the Maine Constitution that allows elections to be won by pluralities — and not necessarily majorities — of votes.

Maine: State House leaders allow opposing bills to address ranked-choice voting | Portland Press Herald

State House leaders Thursday approved introducing competing bills that address ranked-choice voting – one would repeal the first-in-the-nation voting law and the other would put a ballot question to voters on whether to change the state’s constitution to make it legal statewide. Members of the Legislative Council, which includes majority and minority leaders in both chambers as well as the Senate president and the speaker of the House, approved the bills in 9-0 votes. They now will move to public hearings and work sessions before the full Legislature votes on them.

Utah: Legislators, county clerks tussle over ‘ranked-choice voting’ proposal | The Salt Lake Tribune

Legislators and county clerks wrestled Wednesday over whether to pursue “ranked-choice voting,” sometimes called instant runoff voting, to help ensure that election winners are actually supported by a majority of voters. In such a system, voters rank their first, second, third, etc. choices. If no one achieves a majority initially, the lowest-vote-receiving candidate would be eliminated. Supporters of that eliminated candidate would have votes shifted to their second choice. The process would repeat until someone wins a majority. Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, has for years pushed bills to allow this type of voting. Legislation on the topic passed the House this year, but it died in the Senate after the Utah Republican Party endorsed the idea to help resolve worries that multi-candidate primaries could lead to winners who achieve small pluralities.

Maine: Ranked-choice voting coming to Maine unless Legislature says no | Sun Journal

Whatever the state Supreme Court advises about whether ranked-choice voting violates Maine’s Constitution, the new voting method would apparently still apply to primaries and congressional elections. “The majority of the elections should be governed by this in 2018,” said Kate Knox of Bernstein Shur, representing the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting that pushed last year’s successful ballot question that would make Maine the first state in the country to adopt the system. Knox told legislators recently they “still have a large number of elections” that are required to use ranked-choice voting under last year’s initiative regardless of what the Supreme Court says.

Maine: Supreme Judicial Court hears arguments on new ranked-choice voting law | Portland Press Herald

The state’s highest court heard arguments Thursday on whether a ballot question approved last November to elect top state and federal officials under a ranked-choice voting system complies with the Maine Constitution. Issues debated in the hourlong hearing before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court included the impact on the two-party political system, the Legislature’s responsibility to enact the will of the people and whether the change would create a constitutional crisis. Several cities around the United States, including Portland, use ranked-choice voting, but no states employ it for statewide offices. The law fundamentally changes the way voters select the state’s top elected officials – legislators, the governor and Maine’s four congressional delegates. Attorneys representing the Maine Senate and House of Representatives, as well as the campaign to pass the ranked-choice voting law, made arguments to the justices.

Minnesota: Ranked-choice opponents push St. Paul to vote on voting, again | Minnesota Public Radio News

Though St. Paul residents approved ranked-choice voting in a 2009 referendum, it may be heading for a vote in St. Paul again. Opponents of ranked-choice voting, also called instant-runoff voting, say it has unnecessarily delayed results and hasn’t delivered on supporters’ promises. They’re going to make their case to put it back before voters as soon as November. “It promises a lot of things and it doesn’t deliver on any of them,” says Chuck Repke, a neighborhood activist, one-time city council staffer and political activist.

Maine: Attorney General, Republicans tell high court they believe ranked-choice voting is unconstitutional | State & Capitol

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills and legislative Republicans told the state’s high court on Friday that the ranked-choice voting system approved by voters in 2016 is unconstitutional, setting up a fight with advocates for the law. Legal briefs were due to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Friday ahead of an April oral argument in a proceeding initiated last month by the Maine Senate asking for an advisory opinion on the new law’s constitutionality. The system would apply in gubernatorial, congressional and legislative races with three or more candidates. A winner would be declared if a majority picks a candidate as their first choice, but if that doesn’t happen, the candidate with the lowest share of first-place votes is eliminated and second-place votes for that candidate are reallocated. That process that would be repeated until a majority is won.

Utah: After unusual Republican Party support, Democrat passes election-reform bill | The Salt Lake Tribune

GOP legislators long had balked at a proposal by Democrat Rebecca Chavez-Houck for “ranked choice voting.” But after the central committee of the Utah Republican Party endorsed the idea last weekend, many lawmakers changed their minds. The House voted 59-12 to pass Chavez-Houck’s bill, HB349, and sent it to the Senate — where it is expected to face tougher sledding. The bill would create an instant runoff system in multi-candidate primary elections. Voters would rank their first-, second-, third-choice, etc. If no one achieves a majority initially, the lowest-vote-receiving candidate would be eliminated. Supporters of that eliminated candidate would have votes shifted to their second-choice. The process would repeat until someone wins a majority.

Minnesota: Debate over ranked-choice voting reignites in St. Paul | Minneapolis Star Tribune

St. Paul mayoral candidate Elizabeth Dickinson discusses ranked-choice voting at a town hall meeting Wednesday. The debate over how St. Paul residents elect city leaders is heating up again. The city started using ranked-choice voting in 2011, forgoing primaries and putting all the candidates on the ballot to be ranked. Supporters say it has been a more inclusive way to elect city leaders and resulted in people with the broadest support winning. Opponents, who are beginning the push to return to the primary system, say it is confusing and has failed to produce the promised growth in voter turnout. The two sides squared off this week at a sparsely attended town hall forum. But behind the scenes, the debate had already begun. On Monday, Charter Commission Member Chuck Repke plans to propose a change to the city’s charter to eliminate the ranked-choice system. The proposal has already met resistance from City Council members.

Illinois: Biss introduces ranked-choice voting bill | The Daily Northwestern

A bill introduced by State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) earlier this month would set up a ranked-choice voting system for state elections. The bill, which Biss introduced Feb. 1, would amend the state election code to have ranked-choice voting in elections for the following positions: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller, secretary of state, treasurer and General Assembly member. According to the bill, voting would proceed in rounds, with voters ranking candidates and the last-place candidate being eliminated after each round. When two candidates remain, the candidate with the higher vote total would win.

Maine: High court will hear case on ranked choice voting law | The Portland Press Herald

Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to review a set of questions being posed to it by the Maine Senate over a citizen-enacted law that would change the state to a ranked-choice voting system. The state Senate requested the court review the ballot question law last week, suggesting it presents a so-called “solemn occasion” as the legality and even the constitutionality of the new law could throw state government into post-election chaos. In a bipartisan 24-10 vote, the Senate, as provided in the state’s constitution, asked the court to review the law.

Maine: Senate Asks High Court for Opinion on Voter-Approved Ranked-Choice Initiative | Maine Public Radio

Maine voters approved a measure this past fall to adopt a ranked-choice voting system for statewide elections. Now lawmakers who are trying to implement the new law are asking the Maine Supreme Court to weigh in on whether it’s constitutional. Last year Maine Attorney General Janet Mills raised questions about the proposal because it appeared to clash with language in the state constitution. For decades, the candidate that got the most votes in a contest has been declared the winner. But under the new system, voters will indicate their top multiple choices in order of preference, and the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated until someone has a majority. Democratic state Sen. Shenna Bellows of Manchester, former director of the ACLU in Maine, says the voters have spoken and the Legislature should follow their will. “We do not want to set a precedent of a Legislature turning to the courts every time a law is passed to seek an advisory opinion as to the constitutionality of our legislation,” she says.

Maine: Lawmakers may seek court opinion on constitutionality of ranked-choice voting | The Portland Press Herald

The Senate could vote next week on a whether to seek a Maine Supreme Judicial Court opinion on the constitutionality of the state’s new system of ranked-choice voting. Last November, Mainers approved an initiative that would allow voters to rank candidates for governor, Congress and the Legislature in order of preference, thereby enabling an “instant run-off” in the event that no candidate receives a majority of the votes in the initial tally. Maine would be the first state in the nation to adopt ranked-choice voting for statewide elections beginning in 2018. However, opponents have questioned the constitutionality of the system. Next week, the Maine Senate is expected to vote on a procedural order that, if it passes, would ask Maine’s highest court to weigh in on the constitutionality issue. Approval of the order – known as a “solemn occasion” request – would require a majority vote in the closely divided Senate.

Iowa: Democrats consider absentee voting for Iowa caucuses | Des Moine Register

Iowa Democrats on Saturday cracked open the door toward allowing voters to participate in future Iowa presidential caucuses by absentee ballot. The Iowa Democratic Party Caucus Review Committee, meeting in Des Moines, discussed preliminary recommendations to the state party leadership to update the caucus process. Among the draft proposals would be to create a new process to allow more people to participate despite work conflicts, disabilities, out-of-state travel or the need for child care. “I think it’s a great way to expand access,” committee member Marcia Nichols of Des Moines said. “I think you are including people who are 24/7 workers, you’re including people who just can’t get to caucuses because of their physical limitation,” she said.

Canada: Mayrand doubts ranked ballot referendum on electoral reform options doable | Canadian Press

Canada’s chief electoral officer warns that time is running out to organize a national referendum on electoral reform if the voting system is to be changed in time for the next federal election in October 2019, as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised. And that’s if a straightforward referendum question is asked, requiring a simple Yes or No answer. Marc Mayrand doubts there’d be enough time to organize a more complicated referendum that gives Canadians multiple voting systems to choose from and asks them to rank their preferences — as was done in Prince Edward Island’s recent plebiscite on electoral reform. “Administratively, I must say it would be difficult. Let’s be very clear on that,” Mayrand said in an interview marking the imminent end of his 10-year tenure at the helm of Elections Canada.

Canada: Waterloo rejects online voting, ranked ballot | The Record

Waterloo council will stick with tradition and use paper ballots and the first-past-the-post system for the 2018 municipal election. Politicians voted Monday not to pursue online voting or use ranked ballots. “Voting shouldn’t necessarily be that simple,” Coun. Brian Bourke said. “It shouldn’t just be the click of a button.” Region of Waterloo Coun. Jane Mitchell appealed against Internet voting, citing concerns about confidentiality. “The secret ballot will always be a problem,” she said. She said polling locations are the most reliable way to keep ballots secret, the “old school” way. Resident Dave Shuffling said he has about eight years of experience in the computer security industry. He outlined a long list of possible threats to the integrity of online voting and asked council not to proceed with online voting. “Security is really difficult to get right,” Shuffling said. A previous council voted against using online voting to conduct the last municipal election but staff told council in January they wanted to have another look at the idea.

Maine: Logistics could put ranked-choice voting on hold in 2018 | The Portland Press Herald

Mainers have voted for a radical overhaul of elections, and now there’s much work to be done before the first statewide ranked-choice system is implemented. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said that he’ll be meeting in coming weeks with legislative leaders and ranked-choice voting advocates to start the implementation process. And he’s already worried that the 2018 date in the referendum may be too ambitious. But Kyle Bailey, campaign manager of the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, said there’s no wiggle room on the implementation date. “This is not a recommendation or an advisory opinion of the people. This was a statute enacted by the Maine people,” he said. Nationwide, a dozen cities have adopted ranked-choice voting, and Maine voters on Tuesday became the first to endorse the system for statewide elections.

Maine: Approval looks likely for initiative to change how Maine candidates are elected | The Portland Press Herald

Maine has become the first state in the nation to change the way voters elect candidates to Congress, the Legislature and the governor’s office. With 93 percent of ballots counted, Question 5, which could make Maine the first state to pick statewide candidates with a ranking system, was leading with 52 percent to 48 percent support, a margin of nearly 29,000 votes. In ranked-choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate has more than 50 percent of the top votes cast after the first tally, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Voters who chose the eliminated candidate have their ballots added to the totals of their second-ranked candidate and the ballots are retabulated. The process continues until one candidate has a majority of votes and is declared the winner. Critics of the change, including Gov. Paul LePage, said it violates the Maine Constitution, which calls for election winners to be chosen by a plurality of the vote.

California: Brown vetoes bill to broaden ranked-choice voting | San Francisco Chronicle

Legislation that would have allowed all cities in California to use ranked-choice voting, the system in San Francisco and three other Bay Area communities that lets voters rank candidates by preference and decide an election in a single round of ballots, has been vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Ranked-choice, also known as instant-runoff voting, gives voters the option of choosing multiple candidates in order of preference. After the ballots are first counted, the candidate with the fewest top-rank votes is eliminated and the next choices of that candidate’s supporters are apportioned among the remaining candidates. The process continues until one candidate gets a majority.

Editorials: Canada need not import Australia’s woes with ranked ballot voting system | Joan Bryden/The Canadian Press

Australia’s deadlocked election last winter has been held up as a grim example of the chaos that could be unleashed in Canada were this country to adopt a system of ranked ballots — as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at one time openly preferred. Instability. A plethora of tiny, extremist or vanity parties. Unholy alliances among the micro-parties that wind up holding the governing party to ransom. There’s just one problem with the warnings: neither Trudeau nor anyone else thus far has suggested that Canada adopt the Australian model. In fact, Australia has two different voting models — a simple ranked ballot system for its House of Representatives (equivalent to Canada’s House of Commons) and a single transferable vote system (STV) for its elected Senate (Canada’s Senate is appointed). STV is actually a complex form of proportional representation, which includes a ranked ballot. Yet some of the purported dire consequences of adopting a simple ranked balloting system here have been based on the worst features of Australia’s Senate elections.

Australia: Federal election 2016: Number six above the line. Confused? | The Australian

Chaos has descended upon the ­nation’s polling booths, with ­voters struggling to understand changes to above-the-line voting on the Senate voting paper. New Senate voting rules, introduced in March as a way to stymie the smaller parties, mean that ­voters must number at least six boxes above the line on the Senate ballot paper for their vote to count. However, as the Australian Electoral Commission admitted yesterday, voters who vote 1 above the line will also have their vote counted, provided there is nothing else wrong with the ballot paper. Confusion has been heightened by a new online tool, created by the AEC, which allows voters to “practise’’ their Senate vote ahead of polling day.