Maine court rejects expansion of ranked choice voting to state elections

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state Constitution does not allow expanding ranked choice voting to state elections.

Monday’s court decision affirmed the position of the Republican National Committee and Maine Republican Party. Last month, the RNC and Maine GOP filed a brief with the court opposing Democrats’ legislative attempt to expand ranked choice voting.

“Maine’s Democrats attempted to change the rules of this year’s election in violation of the State Constitution,” said RNC Chairman Joe Gruters. “The RNC will continue to fight against last-minute, unlawful attempts by Democrats to change election rules. That’s why the RNC fought to stop this illegal expansion of ranked choice voting.”

Earlier in the year, the Maine Legislature requested that the court decide whether the ranked choice voting bill supported by Democrats to expand it for statewide offices was allowed under the Maine Constitution.

In 2017, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that ranked choice voting in general elections for state offices violated the state’s Constitution.

That same year, Janet Mills, who then was the state’s attorney general and is now governor, argued that ranked choice voting in statewide elections would be unconstitutional.

The court’s decision happened around the same time the Albuquerque City Council voted 6-3 to reject Ranked Choice Voting as a replacement to its current runoff system. 

Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela said she was “very grateful to the Albuquerque City Council” for rejecting the RCV proposal.

Ms. Barela said ranked-choice voting is bad for New Mexico and “would disenfranchise a significant number of Albuquerque voters” by adding layers of unneeded complexity to their elections and “diminishes the voice many Republicans have in municipal elections by making it easier for Democrats to win.” 

In 2023, the RNC unanimously adopted a resolution opposing ranked choice voting nationwide.

RCV is an election method in which voters rank candidates for an office in order of their preference — first choice, second choice, third choice and so on. If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, that candidate wins the election.

If no majority winner emerges after tallying the first choices, the race is decided by an instant runoff. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who ranked that candidate as their first choice will have their votes count for their next choice.

This process continues until a majority winner, a candidate with more than half of the vote, emerges as the winner.

Some activists have fought to install this election method across the country to help give their candidates an edge in municipalities in states such as New York, Maine, California and New Mexico.

Other activists are pushing back and seeking to ban the system altogether.

Thirteen states, including Wyoming, West Virginia and Louisiana, have banned the election method.