No more excuses for Maine politicians. The Maine Supreme Court upheld the state's Ranked Choice Voting law Tuesday, allowing an order by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy that the secretary of state has to implement ranked choice voting for all statewide primary elections to stand.
“Ranked-choice voting is the current statutory law of Maine for the primary elections to be held on June 12, 2018,” the justices wrote in an unanimous decision. “The consistent and explicit purpose of the citizens’ initiative and the people’s veto has been to transition Maine elections to a system of ranked-choice voting.”
The ruling is being hailed as a decisive victory for voters by advocates, who have not had much of a break from the campaign trail even after ranked choice voting was approved by voters in November 2016 -- since lawmakers have worked hard to kill the election reform by any means necessary.
“The Maine Legislature has changed or repealed all four of the initiatives passed by Maine voters in 2016. Today’s decision by the Maine Supreme Court confirms that the Maine people are sovereign and have the final say,” said Kyle Bailey, campaign manager for the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting.
June 12 will mark the first time not only in Maine history, but US history that ranked choice voting is used for statewide elections. Voters will also have a chance to reaffirm their 2016 decision to use ranked choice voting in the general election for US House and Senate races on primary election day.
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