Maine Supreme Judicial Court advisory opinion on ranked-choice voting
On May 23, 2017, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an advisory opinion, at the request of the Maine State Senate, on the constitutionality of ranked-choice voting. The court advised that provisions of Maine's ranked-choice voting initiative, which was approved by voters on November 8, 2016, conflicted with the state constitution's requirement that candidates for state office win with a plurality of all votes cast (under ranked-choice voting, only a candidate with a majority of votes cast can be elected).[1]
Background
- See also: Electoral systems in Maine
Ranked-choice voting
- See also: Ranked-choice voting
A ranked-choice voting system (RCV) is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates by preference on their ballots. If a candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, he or she is declared the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. First-preference votes cast for the failed candidate are eliminated, lifting the second-preference choices indicated on those ballots. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of the adjusted votes. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority. This system is sometimes referred to as an instant runoff voting system.[2][3]
Maine Question 5, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2016)
On November 8, 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, which provided for the use of ranked-choice voting in both primary and general elections for United States Senators, United States Representatives, the governor, state senators, and state representatives. The initiative was approved by a vote of 52.12 percent to 47.88 percent. On February 2, 2017, the Maine State Senate voted 24 to 10 to ask the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to review the initiative and issue an advisory opinion on the following questions:[4][5][1]
| “ | Question 1. Does the Act's requirement that the Secretary of State count the votes centrally in multiple rounds conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of Maine that require that city and town officials sort, count, declare and record the votes in elections for Representatives, Senator and Governor as provided in the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First, Section 5, Article IV, Part Second, Section 3 and Article V, Part First, Section 3? Question 2. Does the method of ranked-choice voting established by the Act in elections for Representative, Senator and Governor violate the provisions of the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First, Section 5, Article IV, Part Second, Sections 3 and 4 and Article V, Part First, Section 3, respectively, which declare that the person elected shall be the candidate who receives a plurality of all the votes counted and declared by city and town officials as recorded on lists returned to the Secretary of State? Question 3. Does the requirement in the Act that a tie between candidates for Governor in the final round of counting be decided by lot conflict with the provisions of the Constitution of Maine, Article V, Part First, Section 3 relating to resolution of a tie vote for Governor for the House of Representatives and Senate?[6] |
” |
| —Maine State Senate | ||
The court conducted oral argument on the questions submitted by the Senate on April 13, 2017.[1]
Decision
On May 23, 2017, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued a unanimous opinion advising that Maine's ranked-choice voting law conflicted with the Maine Constitution. The court wrote the following in its opinion:[1]
| “ | The Act ... provides for the tabulation of votes in rounds. Thus, the Act prevents the recognition of the winning candidate when the first plurality is identified. According to the terms of the Constitution, a candidate who receives a plurality of the votes would be declared the winner in that election. The Act, in contrast, would not declare the plurality candidate the winner of the election, but would require continued tabulation until a majority is achieved or all votes are exhausted. Accordingly, the Act is not simply another method of carrying out the Constitution's requirement of a plurality. In essence, the Act is inapplicable if there are only two candidates, and it is in direct conflict with the Constitution if there are more than two candidates.[6] | ” |
| —Maine Supreme Judicial Court | ||
The court's opinion dealt only with the second question posed by the Maine State Senate (see above): "We answer only one of the Questions propounded because answers to the other Questions are unnecessary in light of our Advisory Opinion on Question 2."[1]
The advisory opinion dealt only with elections for governor, the Maine State Senate, and the Maine House of Representatives, as these are the offices for which plurality voting is specified in the state constitution.[1]
Aftermath
In response to this finding, state lawmakers introduced two separate bills. LD 1625, introduced on May 31, 2017, by Sen. Garrett Mason (R-22) proposed to repeal the law. On June 27, 2017, the Maine State Senate voted 21 to 13 to pass the repeal bill. That same day, the Maine House of Representatives voted 79 to 66, with six members not voting, to pass an amended version of LD 1625. The House version of the bill provided for ranked-choice voting in congressional general elections and congressional and state primary elections (this version also would have permitted ranked-choice voting in state legislative and gubernatorial elections should the state constitution be amended to authorize ranked-choice voting in these contests). On June 28, 2017, the Senate voted 20 to 15 to reject the House amendments.[7]
LD 1624, introduced on May 31, 2017, by Sen. Cathy Breen (D-25), proposed amending the state constitution to provide for ranked-choice voting. A constitutional amendment must be approved by a two-thirds vote in each chamber of the state legislature before going to voters for final approval. On June 23, 2017, the House of Representatives voted 78 to 68 to approve the measure, falling short of the required two-thirds majority (101 members).[8]
In light of these events, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap (D) said on June 29, 2017, that his office would prepare to implement ranked-choice voting systems in Maine for the 2018 elections.[9]
On October 23, 2017, the Maine State Legislature convened a special legislative session.[10] The Maine House of Representatives took up Rep. Kent Ackley's (Common Sense Independent-82) LD 1646. The original version of LD 1646 proposed delaying the implementation pending voter approval of a constitutional amendment that would permit the legislature to determine the state's method of voting. Rep. Kenneth Fredette (R-100) motioned the state House to amend LD 1646 to set a deadline of December 1, 2021, and to provide for the repeal of Question 5 if an amendment was not passed by that date. The state House voted 73 to 65 to accept the amendment, with 12 members absent and one member excused. The state House then voted 68 to 63 to pass the amended LD 1646, with 20 members not voting. Rep. Ackley, who sponsored the original version, voted against the amended LD 1646. The state Senate voted 19 to 16 to approve the amended LD 1646.[11]
On October 27, 2017, Kyle Bailey, campaign manager for the Maine Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, sent an email message to ranked-choice voting supporters announcing that the group had filed the paperwork to pursue a veto referendum in opposition to LD 1646: "We will have 90 days to collect 61,123 valid signatures to put a People’s Veto on the June 2018 ballot. The People's Veto will freeze Maine's Ranked Choice Voting law in place and require its implementation for the June 2018 primary election for state and federal offices. We are hopeful that Secretary of State Matt Dunlap will approve the petition without delay, so the 300 Maine citizens who've already signed up to collect signatures on Election Day will be able to do so." On November 6, 2017, Dunlap authorized the veto referendum petition, permitting circulators to begin collecting signatures. According to Ballot Access News, RCV proponents had approximately 33,000 signatures as of November 7, 2017. On December 19, 2017, Ballot Access News reported that proponents had collected roughly two-thirds of the required signatures. On February 1, 2018, Richard Winger of Ballot Access News reported that "town clerks have already determined that [the veto referendum petition] has enough valid signatures to place the referendum on the June 2018 ballot. The petition filing deadline occurred on February 2, 2018. On March 5, 2018, Dunlap announced that a sufficient number of valid signatures had been submitted to place the referendum on the ballot, meaning that ranked-choice voting would be used for federal and state offices in the June 2018 primary election. On June 12, 2018, Maine voters approved the veto referendum, overturning LD 1646.[12][13][14][15][16]
See also
- Electoral systems in Maine
- Maine Question 5, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2016)
- Ranked-choice voting
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Maine Supreme Judicial Court, "Opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court: Questions Propounded by the Maine Senate in a Communicated Dated February 2, 2017," May 23, 2017
- ↑ FairVote, "Electoral Systems," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ MinneapolisMN.gov, "Frequently Asked Questions about Ranked-Choice Voting," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ League of Women Voters, "Citizen Referendum on Ranked Choice Voting," accessed November 13, 2014
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "SO 12," accessed February 3, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "LD 1625 Overview," accessed June 1, 2017
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "LD 1624 Overview," accessed June 1, 2017
- ↑ U.S. News, "Lawmakers Let Ranked Choice Voting Live ... for Now," June 29, 2017
- ↑ U.S. News, "Lawmakers Address Key Issues on Recreational Pot, Voting," October 23, 2017
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "LD 1646 Overview," accessed October 24, 2017
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Ranked-choice voting supporters to begin 'people’s veto' campaign today," November 6, 2017
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Maine Referendum in Support of Ranked Choice Voting Gathers 33,000 Signatures on First Day," November 14, 2017
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Maine Referendum to Save Ranked-Choice Voting is Two-Thirds Finished," December 19, 2017
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Maine Ranked Choice Voting Supporters Submit Petition on Friday, February 2," February 1, 2018
- ↑ Bristol Herald Courier, "Maine races to implement election overhaul before June vote," March 25, 2018
