Maine’s Attorney General is breaking with Democratic legislative leaders in Augusta over a push to expand ranked choice voting ahead of November.
The Bangor Daily News reports that the conflict revolves around a bill that aims to expand ranked-choice voting to general elections for governor and the Legislature. Maine has used ranked choice voting for primaries for state and federal office and general elections for Congress since 2018, and presidential elections since 2020.
Attorney General Aaron Frey argued before Maine’s high court on Friday that the bill was unconstitutional, referencing a 2017 decision by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court that the method conflicts with a provision in the Maine Constitution that requires those races to be decided by a plurality.
Frey also argued that it could bring “chaos in an election cycle already facing unprecedented threats of federal interference.”
Supporters of ranked choice voting like Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry and House Speaker Ryan Fecteau argue that ranked-choice voting determines the “will of the people” and the 2017 court decision was made before the voting system was implemented and widely understood in the state.
Arguments on the bill will take place before the high court on April 1st. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office, which took no position on the legality of the bill, told the court it needs a final decision by Aug. 25 to print ballots for the November election.
To read the original Bangor Daily News article, click here.
