Next November, Maine voters will decide whether or not to accept “ranked-choice voting” where a voter can select his first, second, third, etc. choices from a ballot with more than one candidate.
Currently, there are either runoffs, such as is scheduled in Lewiston for mayor, or people elect a candidate by plurality, such as the current governor and his predecessors for the past 40 years.
Runoff elections are inefficient, expensive and disenfranchise veterans serving overseas because they rarely get to vote in a runoff due to the logistics of time and location.
Election by plurality creates angst among the voters when the winner has less than 50 percent of the vote cast.
I encourage everyone to support a change in the manner in which Maine elections are conducted. It is non-partisan and continues a one-person, one-vote process.
It is inclusive, so servicemen and women can vote back home from beginning to end. The military folks protect our way of life and deserve to participate in the election of officials back home.
Ranked-choice voting works, as was witnessed in Portland’s last contest for mayor. It should work for the entire state.
L. Gary Knight, Livermore Falls
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