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Maine Lawmakers Consider Expanding The Use Of Ranked-Choice Voting

State lawmakers are considering a series of bills to expand the use of ranked-choice voting in Maine elections. The first to have a public hearing is a measure to create presidential primary elections in Maine and apply ranked choice voting to those contests.

Sen. Troy Jackson, a Democrat from Allagash, introduced the bill.

“People shouldn’t feel like they have to choose the lesser of two evils in a primary,” says Jackson. “They should be able to rank candidates by who they believe will best represent their interests. This bill will do just that.”

No opposition was voiced at the hearing, but concerns were raised about how the bill would be implemented. Among the other proposals is a measure calling for a constitutional amendment to apply ranked-choice voting to all state races.

“To me it puts a stronger divide and causes more friction by putting this in than if you just voted for the person you wanted,” says Sen. Scott Cyrway, a Republicn a from Benton.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.