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Westbrook, Maine, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (November 2021)
| Westbrook, Maine, Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 2, 2021 | |
| Topic Local electoral systems and Local charter amendments | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Initiative | Origin Citizens |
Westbrook Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative was on the ballot as an initiative in Westbrook on November 2, 2021. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the city's charter to enact ranked-choice voting (RCV) for mayoral, city council, and school committee elections. |
A "no" vote opposed this initiative to enact ranked-choice voting (RCV), thereby leaving the existing plurality election system in place consisting of a primary election and a general election. |
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.
Election results
|
Westbrook Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
2,819 | 62.94% | ||
| No | 1,660 | 37.06% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot question
The ballot question was as follows:[1]
| “ | Shall the City of Westbrook approve the charter amendment reprinted below?[2] | ” |
Full text
The full text of the amendment can be read below:[1]
Background
Ranked-choice voting in Maine
As of 2021, Maine was the sole state to implement RCV at the state level. The Maine Legislature approved a bill in 2019 (LD 1083) to extend the state's RCV system to the presidential election. The Maine Republican Party filed a veto referendum to suspend LD 1083 and let voters decide whether to approve it. On September 22, 2020, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that not enough signatures were submitted for the veto referendum to qualify it for the ballot, which meant LD 1083 was not suspended. In November 2020, Maine voters were the first to vote for president using ranked-choice voting.
In March 2020, voters in Portland, Maine approved a ballot measure to enact ranked-choice voting for city council and school board elections in addition to mayoral elections. The vote margin was 81.2% to 18.8%.
Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
| Ranked-choice voting (RCV) ballot measures | |
|---|---|
| Pages: • Ranked-choice voting (RCV) • History of RCV ballot measures • Electoral systems on the ballot • Local electoral systems on the ballot • Electoral systems by state | |
- See also: Ranked-choice voting (RCV)
The ballot measure has played a role in shaping electoral systems in the U.S., including ranked-choice voting (RCV) for state and local elections.
Since 1915, there have been more than 150 ballot measures to adopt or repeal ranked-choice voting systems. Ashtabula, Ohio, was the first jurisdiction to approve a ranked-choice voting measure in 1915.
RCV is an electoral system in which voters rank candidates on their ballots. RCV can be used for single-winner elections or multi-winner elections; when used for multi-winner elections, the system has also been called single-transferable vote or proportional representation. These terms were often used to describe multi-winner RCV before the 1970s. You can learn more about ranked-choice voting systems and policies here.
Local RCV ballot measures
Between 1965 and 2024, 79 ranked-choice voting (RCV) local ballot measures were on the ballot in 58 jurisdictions in 19 states.
- Ballotpedia has located 71 local ballot measures to adopt RCV. Voters approved 52 (78.9%) and rejected 15 (21.1%).
- There were eight local ballot measures to repeal RCV. Voters approved four (50.0%) and rejected four (50.0%).
- The year with the most local RCV ballot measures was 2022, when nine were on the ballot in nine jurisdictions. Voters approved seven of them.
- The state with the most local ballot measures related to RCV is California, where there have been 13.
The following table shows the number of ranked-choice voting measures by topic.
| Local ranked-choice vote measures by topic and outcome, 1965 - April 2025 | |||||
| Topic | Total | Approved | Approved (%) | Defeated | Defeated (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adopt RCV | 72 | 57 | 79.2% | 15 | 20.08% |
| Repeal RCV | 8 | 4 | 50.0% | 4 | 50.0% |
| Total | 80 | 61 | 76.3% | 19 | 23.7% |
Path to the ballot
In Westbrook, Maine, five or more qualified voters can originate an initiative petition. The required number of signatures is 10% of registered voters at the time of the last general election. The city council then may enact the ordinance as is or send it to voters.[3]
Sponsors of the initiative collected over 700 signatures. On August 2, 2021, the Westbrook City Council voted to send the measure to the November ballot in a vote of 5-0.[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Westbrook City Council, "August 2, 2021 Council Meeting," accessed August 17, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Westbrook Municipal Code, "Chapter 21: Elections," accessed August 17, 2021
- ↑ Press Herald, "Westbrook voters to consider ranked-choice voting in city elections," August 4, 2021
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