With the passage of the ranked-choice voting referendum, many of our elected representatives have chosen, instead of finding a way to make it work, to hide behind excuses and false obstacles.
Legislators from both parties have hidden self interested resistance under the smoke screen of a weak constitutional argument based on a single interpretation of one word: plurality. In fact, seven of the 10 elections types covered by ranked-choice voting don’t conflict with the state constitution because they aren’t governed by the plurality provision.
As we have seen with Question 4 on the November ballot, which asked Maine voters to amend the constitution, amending the constitution is not inherently impossible.
Legislators who balk at enacting ranked-choice voting and then voting for an amendment are simply disregarding their constituents and should expect to be voted out. I call on all voters to support candidates that will work for the good of their constituents and not only the good of themselves and their donors.
Doug Birgfeld
Gardiner
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