Maine Let Independents In — Then Made Candidates Earn a Majority

When Maine voters went to the polls Tuesday, they did more than select nominees for the Republican and Democratic Parties. They participated in one of the most important election reform tests in the country.

The media focused on the Graham Platner scandals, the November matchups, and what it all means for the balance of power in Washington. What got less attention was what happened when two voter-centered reforms operate at the same time:

Semi-open primaries and ranked choice voting. One reform opens the gate. The other gives voters more power to express their candidate preferences.

For Maine, ranked choice voting is the older of the two election changes. Voters approved its use in 2016 and then again in 2018 after the legislature set it up for repeal. Since implementation, the state has experienced few issues.

It is also popular with voters.

A SurveyUSA poll released by FairVote ahead of June 9 found that 75% of likely Maine primary voters rank at least two candidates in crowded gubernatorial fields. Additionally, 84% said ranking candidates was easy and 70% supported the ability to rank.

The Maine Legislature enacted a semi-open partisan primary system in 2022 under LD 231. It was first used in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

Under this election model, independent voters (called “unenrolled” in Maine) can participate in a taxpayer-funded party primary without joining that party. They may choose one party’s ballot and remain independent of party registration. 

Registered party members have to vote in their respective party’s primary. This sets the system apart from an open partisan system like in Texas, where voters do not register by party and can pick either party’s ballot.

Approximately 334,000 voters are registered independents, representing about 35% of the registered electorate. While their choices are limited to a single party's ballot, they still have an opportunity they didn't have under closed primaries.

Maine Saw an Explosion in Turnout In the 2026 Primaries

Primary elections are a critical stage of the taxpayer-funded elections process. In most cases, it ultimately determines who will win the election since most contests since they are safe for one of the two major parties.

These races have a tremendous impact on representation, and in 2026 can even shift the balance of power in Washington. This is why there has been so much attention on the Senate race and Democratic nominee Graham Platner’s scandals.

But a bigger story is that 222,600 votes were cast in the Democratic US Senate primary alone. That is almost a quarter of the total electorate in a single party’s primary and 37% higher than 2020—a presidential election year.

Incumbent US Sen. Susan Collins was the de facto winner on the GOP side since she ran uncontested. 

There are multiple variables that factor into turnout, including the attention given to a race (Platner was all over the news), voters’ incentive to participate (a high-profile contest with national implications), and if voters feel like their vote will actually matter.

While it is not yet clear how many of these voters were independent, there are some early indicators where most independents cast their ballots. The Portland Press Herald reported that independent voters chose the Democratic ballot by roughly a 3-to-1 margin.

Regardless of which party ballot they chose, the independent voters who participated were able to do so without party permission or having to change their voter registration just to have a meaningful say in an election.

Ranked Choice Voting Changed the Incentives

Open primaries widen participation. Ranked choice voting changes how candidates compete for that broader electorate.

In a traditional plurality primary, a candidate can win a crowded race with a small slice of the vote. This rewards factional politics and campaigns built around turning out the most intense bloc of supporters.

Ranked choice voting asks a different question: Who can build a broader coalition of support, especially in a crowded candidate field?

Under ranked choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference (1st choice, 2nd choice, 3rd choice, etc.). If no candidate gets a majority of first-choice selections, the last place candidate is eliminated, and their voters’ next choices are factored into the tabulation.

It is a way to conduct instant runoffs (hence why this RCV system is also called instant runoff voting) without the added cost of another election and subsequent runoff rounds are held until a single candidate has a majority.

This makes backup choices politically meaningful. And in 2026, these backup choices will matter in several major races, including both gubernatorial primaries and the Democratic primary in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.

Because all of these races will be determined by how voters ranked the candidates.

The 2026 primary provided evidence to what ranked choice advocates have argued about the reform for years: It fundamentally shifts campaign incentivizes.

Instead of appealing to small bloc of voters, campaigns reach out to voters to be their second or third choice as well. Candidates are also incentivized to build coalitions with other campaigns and create a more civil campaign environment.

As IVN author Cara Brown McCormick pointed out, this kind of coalition was formed in the Democratic gubernatorial primary between Hannah Pingree, Shenna Bellows, and Troy Jackson.

Their message to supporters: Be sure to rank me first, but if I am your preferred choice, rank these other candidates as well.

Ranked choice advocates assert that candidates cannot simply run to one faction and hope the field splinters around them. They have a reason to appeal to voters who may not rank them first but might rank them second or third.

In a polarized political system, that is a major shift.

The Reform Combo Party Bosses Fear Most

The combination of semi-open primaries and ranked choice voting attack different parts of the same problem. Closed primaries restrict who gets to participate. Plurality elections restrict how much voters can say.

The old rules helped party insiders dominate the nomination process. They narrowed the electorate and limited voters’ ability to express themselves at the ballot. The new rules steer Maine in the opposite direction.

However, it is important to note that the system is not fully open. Voters registered with a party are still tied to their party’s primary unless they change their registration ahead of time.

Independents can choose one party ballot, but they are limited to the candidates of that party.

There is a difference between a party-nominated process and a voter-nominated process in which all voters and candidates participate on the same primary ballot, and every voter has the opportunity to choose any candidate they want to advance to the general election.

This type of primary system exists in 3 states: Alaska, California, and Washington. But only Alaska—as of now—combines the accessibility and inclusiveness of nonpartisan open primaries with ranked choice voting in the general election.

Alaska’s Top Four nonpartisan system does not restrict voter choice based on how a voter registers. Every voter gets the same primary ballot, and they can pick any candidate they want.

The top four vote-getters move on to the general election where ranked choice ballots are used to determine which candidate is preferred by a majority.

In Maine, the parties still retain significant control because ultimately it remains a party-nominated system. But under a nonpartisan, more choice voting method, it is voters who have the most control.

It is why it is called a voter-nominated system. And the more voters take control of elections away from parties and put it into their own hands, the more party bosses hate it. 

It is why Republican-aligned interest groups will not give up their efforts to repeal Top Four in Alaska. It is why Democratic leaders in Washington, DC, will fund ranked choice voting, but not open primaries—even though both reforms were approved by 73% of voters.

DC Political Machine Refuses to Implement Landmark Voting Rights Initiative

The DC City Council has refused to fully fund and implement Initiative 83, the semi-open primary and ranked choice voting measure that was approved by 73% of voters in 2024.

Independent Voter NewsShawn Griffiths

It is why party insiders on both sides are going after Top Two in California, when a coalition of reformers has proposed expanding the nonpartisan primary model to advance four or five candidates, just like in Alaska. 

The further elections stray from party control, the more party bosses hate it.

Maine may not have a nonpartisan election model, but it cracked open the door to independent voters and more choice in a way that matters. The path to better elections is a process that sometimes requires taking one step at a time.

There is no single fix for America’s broken primary system. Open primaries address access. Ranked choice voting addresses choice. Each reform solves a different problem.

But together, they create a more voter-centered nomination process.

That does not mean every voter will participate. It does not mean every race will produce the outcome reformers prefer. And it does not mean parties will suddenly stop trying to protect their own power.

It does mean more voters have a voice and more of that voice can be heard.

And that is the entire point of more choice voting reform.