During my campaign, one of the more frequent issues discussed was Ranked-Choice Voting. Many were against Ranked-Choice Voting, but only one voter was in favor of it. I presented bill L.D. 1038, An Act to Reinstate Plurality Voting by Repealing the Ranked-choice Voting Laws.

In the 1800s Maine determined the results of its election using a majority of the votes cast. When a majority was not achieved by any candidate, additional elections were held until a single candidate received a majority of the votes cast. The result was an increasing public lack of confidence in the election process.

The 7th Amendment to the Constitution of Maine was adopted and became effective on July 29, 1848. In that amendment the words, "a majority," were replaced with the words "the greatest number." The result was, that since 1848 (for 168 years), elections in Maine were decided by "plurality". The winner of an election being decided by the candidate receiving "the greatest number of votes."

In 2016 a Citizen's Initiative resulted in a referendum that was passed on November 8, 2016 by the voters 52% to 48%.. The Maine Supreme Court was asked to provide an opinion on the constitutionality of the referendum and responded on May 23, 2017 that the Ranked-Choice Voting Act conflicts with the Maine Constitution.

However, the Maine Constitution is specific only with respect to the Governor, the State Senator and the State Representative. Currently, as passed by a previous State Legislature, Ranked -Choice voting is applicable only to Primary Elections, Presidential and Congressional Representatives and Senators. So here we are today, a mix of Plurality decided elections and Ranked-Choice Voting decided elections.

The objective of L.D. 1038, An Act to Reinstate Plurality Voting by Repealing the Ranked-choice Voting Laws, was to clearly specify that all elections are to be decided by plurality including Primary Elections, Presidential and Congressional (Representatives and Senators) elections. The bill was referred to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs. The majority of the Committee has voted Ought Not To Pass.

An increasing number of my constituents complain about Ranked Choice voting. Voters are not sure what to expect for a given election, where it does apply or does not apply. They view Ranked-Choice voting as a more complicated system. Many are not sure how to complete the ballot. Many don't want the other candidates but feel that they have to make additional choices or their vote will be disregarded. They believe it violates "one person, one vote." It is especially divisive in the case where the person with the most initial votes loses as a result of applying second choices. More and more voters have come to believe that Ranked-Choice voting is simply a method of manipulating election results.

Plurality has been accepted and worked for 168 years. Having a voting system where Plurality is used in some elections and Ranked-Choice voting is used in others, decreases the confidence our constituents have in the validity of our elections.

Ranked Choice Voting will most likely continue in Maine until the voters contact their Representatives and Senators urging them to repeal Ranked Choice Voting.