With Election Day quickly approaching, voters may find themselves confused by the concept of Ranked Choice Voting (RVC) and the purpose it serves. RVC is used in Maine and Alaska. It allows voters to rank candidates by preference instead of choosing just one to ensure the winner receives majority support. This guide will explain how RCV works, its history in Maine and what it means for your voting experience this November.
Many seasoned and even first-time voters are familiar with how to fill out and cast a ballot. Simply pick your chosen candidate, and then whichever one accumulates more than 50% of the vote wins. That being said, it is also common to have more than two options for a candidate given the broad spectrum of political parties that exist nowadays. This can result in the vote getting split in an inconsistent manner where it is possible that none of the candidates make it over the 50% threshold.
To subvert this issue, some states adopted the practice of RCV. The purpose of RCV is to provide the option to rank your choices from favorite to least favorite. The candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated from the race and their votes are given to the candidate ranked second on any given ballot. Depending on how tight the percentages are and how many candidates were on the ballot, the process is repeated until one candidate surpasses 50% and is thus marked the winner.
Currently, Maine and Alaska are the only states to adopt this voting style for federal elections. While some see it as a realistic means of adapting a flawed voting system to a growing population, not all voters share this sentiment. RCV has been banned in 10 states as of 2022 with opposition claiming it will over-complicate the system and discount votes of the losing candidate. While slow to gain traction, five more states will vote on adopting RCV in the upcoming 2024 elections.
RCV in Maine goes further back than some may realize. When it was first proposed to the Maine Legislature as a bill in 2001, it was quickly dismissed. That was until 2003 when the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans’ Affairs of the 122nd Maine Legislature requested the Department of the Secretary of State look into the idea of runoff voting.
Between 2005 and 2013, more bills in favor of RCV were proposed without success until 2014, when a citizens’ initiative petition was sent out to Maine voters. The petition gained enough signatures and it was signed into law on Jan. 7, 2017, but was not put into use until 2018.
In November of the same year, the Legislature passed “An Act to Implement Ranked-choice Voting in 2021,” which would suspend the use of RCV until Dec. 1, 2021 unless voters ratify the amendment to the Constitution of Maine.
Pro-RCV voters sought the People’s Veto process to make runoff voting available before 2021 and it gained enough signatures to be put into action on election day of June 12, 2018. On Aug. 26, 2019, “An Act To Implement Ranked Choice Voting for Presidential Primary and General Elections in Maine” was approved by the Maine Legislature. Several unsuccessful veto attempts were made to repeal the decision until Oct. 1, 2020, with RCV ultimately being approved for the ballot in the 2024 Presidential Election.
This might seem very overwhelming to voters, leaving many questioning what to do if they do not wish to participate in this style of voting. The most common question voters have is how to vote for one candidate without ranking their choices. This can be done very easily by ranking your chosen candidate as your first, second, third and fourth choice. Your vote will be counted towards your chosen candidate unless they are eliminated from the race.
With this voting style being so new and experimental, participating in RCV is a unique opportunity for voters to take part in what could become a nationwide change to the voting system.
It can be difficult to stay up to date with politics when dealing with a busy academic schedule, leaving some unsure of what candidate they prefer overall. RCV is meant to make this decision easier so one might express their preferences more fully.
Students can vote at the Collins Art Center on Nov. 5 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. when polls close.
