There is a ballot measure that Mainers will be voting on in November that could drastically improve Maine’s political climate. Ranked choice voting can have a profound impact on how we are governed, and is truly the best way to assure a representative government. Ranked choice voting gives voters the option to rank candidates in […]
ranked choice voting
Posted inLetters
Voting your conscience
George Matthews’ letter regarding ranked choice voting (Aug. 6) contained several misconceptions. First, a voter is not forced to rank all the candidates on a ballot. Voting number 1 for your favorite candidate with no number 2 is a valid strategy. It will not result in disqualification of your ballot. Second, ranked choice voting is […]
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Posted inLetters
Ranked choice voting a con game
My dad always said “If it isn’t broken, why fix it.” Ralph Harden wrote (Aug. 3) that there is a weakness in the current voting system because the winner should have more than 50 percent of the vote. Why? I believe that the candidate with the most votes should win. My dictionary defines majority as […]
Posted inLetters
Ranked-choice voting will work
Ongoing presidential campaign drama obscures other election issues important to our democracy. One issue up for a vote in November is referendum Question 5, which would return majority rule to the election of Maine’s governor, state and federal legislators. Referendum Question 5, An Act to Establish Ranked-choice Voting, addresses a current weakness in those election […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Ranked-choice voting for better elections
I will vote for the statewide ranked-choice voting ballot measure this November — even though, without a runoff system, I might have been elected mayor of Lewiston. I would rather lose a race in a good system, than win in a bad one. Ranked-choice voting for all of Maine is a simpler version of the […]
Posted inLetters
A better system of voting
I did not realize until recently that nine of the past 11 governors were elected without a majority vote. Of course, that happens when more than two candidates run for the same office at the same time. That happens a lot here in Maine. I first took notice of it when Gov. Paul LePage won […]
Posted inLetters
Ranked-choice voting works
We support the citizen initiative to enact ranked-choice voting in elections and primaries for governor, representatives to the U.S. Congress and to the Maine Senate and House of Representatives. For too long, candidates for these offices have been elected with less than a majority of voters supporting them. The past six governors have each gained […]
Posted inLetters
Ranked choice voting is the better way
Ranked-choice voting will be on the ballot in November. Voters are asked to approve a process to elect state officials by majority vote (more than 50 percent). The dictionary says that democracy is “government by the people; especially: rule of the majority.” It once was that way in the Maine Constitution for state Representatives, Senators […]
Posted inLetters
Change what has not worked
As a person who gives credence to ranked-choice voting, I am writing in support — and to express my hope — that ranked choice voting is accepted in Maine. It has been understood, implemented and well-received by voters across the United States. Australia and Ireland have chosen ranked-choice voting. Support has also come from current […]
Posted inLetters
A better system of voting
Next November, Maine voters will decide whether or not to accept “ranked-choice voting” where a voter can select his first, second, third, etc. choices from a ballot with more than one candidate. Currently, there are either runoffs, such as is scheduled in Lewiston for mayor, or people elect a candidate by plurality, such as the […]