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Maine Gov. Janet Mills is among those being sued this week by citizens who want to block the use of ranked-choice voting in the fall election.
Ranked-choice voting in Maine faces new challenge
Jul 24 2020
It turns out the battle over Maine's voting system isn't done yet.
When the Republican Party failed to turn in enough petition signatures last week to block the use of ranked-choice voting in Maine's presidential election this year, it seemed that fight was finished. But Maine, the one state that has approved RCV, is facing a new challenge.
A federal lawsuit filed this week seeks to block the use of ranked-choice voting in November, which would be another high-profile test of a system that advocates are trying to expand throughout the country. And it would play a role in the outcome of one of the most-watched Senate races in the country, featuring incumbent Republican Susan Collins.
<p>The lawsuit — filed on behalf of four Maine voters against Gov. Janet Mills, Attorney General Aaron Frey and Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap — is the just the latest in a series of challenges to RCV in Maine, which was initially approved by voters in 2016 for use in state and congressional elections. The system allows people to vote for more than one candidate and rank their choices.</p>
<p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Proponents argue that it results in a truer reflection of voter support, achieves majority support before naming a winner, allows for an instant runoff that saves the time and expense of putting on another election, and makes for less harsh political campaigns.</p>
<p>Opponents say the system is confusing, and in this lawsuit they rely heavily on the argument that the value of some people's votes is diminished if they don't choose multiple candidates.</p>
<p>Maine voters again approved the idea in 2018 after the Legislature had rejected it and legislation later expanded it for use in the presidential race; an attempt to place another voter referendum on the ballot this fall — which would have halted its use in the 2020 election — failed because <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/voting/maine-ranked-choice-voting" target="_self">not enough valid signatures were gathered</a>.</p>
<p>Ranked-choice voting resulted in Democrat Jared Golden ousting Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin in 2018. Poliquin initially challenged the results in court but ended up withdrawing his lawsuit.</p>
<p>The latest suit argues that allowing ranked-choice voting in this fall would deny many voters full participation in the election. The argument is based largely on a study of the 2018 elections by Nolan McCarty, a Princeton University professor. </p>
<p>The study claims many voters were hurt because they did not understand how ranked-choice voting works and did not choose and rank enough candidates.</p>
<p>So, the argument goes, after the first round of ballot counting if no candidate has a majority, then the candidate receiving the lowest number of votes is eliminated and the second choice of those voters is applied in the second round of counting. (That's how Golden won despite trailing in the initial count.)</p>
<p>But if the voter did not make a second or subsequent selection, then their ballot is "exhausted" and, in effect, does not count, the suit argues.</p>
<p>It points out that the judge in the 2018 legal challenge ruled there was no empirical evidence to show that the system diminished the votes of some people.</p>
<p>It also argues that an election conducted using a larger number of absentee ballots, as is expected this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic, could exacerbate the problem. That's because people won't have a chance to get help with their ballot if they are voting at home.</p>
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Revamp of San Diego elections dies despite broad reform group push
Jul 23 2020
Griffiths is the editor of Independent Voter News, where a version of this story first appeared.
An election overhaul in the nation's eight largest city, designed to expand voters' viable choices and minimize polarization, has been killed by the San Diego City Council.
A broad coalition of democracy reform advocacy groups had made it a top priority to get a referendum revamping the municipal voting process on the November ballot, viewing the city as receptive to the plan. But the proposal was blocked Tuesday by the council on a 5-4 vote.
If adopted, San Diego would have replaced traditional partisan primaries for each office with a single contest open to all candidates, with the top four finishers advancing to a November election decided by ranked-choice voting.
<p>"I want to tip my hat to the remarkable coalition that came together in support of change, and the heartfelt expressions of support of so many people seeking better elections in San Diego," said Rob Richie, who runs <a data-linked-post="2638674439" href="https://thefulcrum.us/fairvote" target="_blank">FairVote</a>, which advocates for ranked elections. "That commitment will result in change in the future." </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>The advocates took some solace that their proposal secured bipartisan support. It was backed by two Democrats, a Republican and an independent. Four Democrats and a Republican formed the majority.</p><p>Local party leaders and partisan special interests teamed up to oppose the measure.</p><p>"From Maine to Alaska, nonpartisan reformers have had to battle the combined opposition of those in control of both major political parties," said Cara Brown McCormick, who has run two successful RCV campaigns in Maine and pressed the proposal in California. "The fact that some elected officials would refuse to give the people of San Diego a chance to vote on this measure tells you everything you need to know about why we need this reform so badly."</p><p>The proposal was brought forward by an unusually broad coalition spanning the ideological spectrum, including the <a data-linked-post="2638675562" href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/league-of-women-voters" target="_blank">League of Women Voters</a> of San Diego, FairVote, <a data-linked-post="2638673288" href="https://thefulcrum.us/representus" target="_blank">RepresentUs</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638673039" href="https://thefulcrum.us/take-back-our-republic" target="_blank">Take Back Our Republic</a>, <a href="https://www.panasd.org/" target="_blank">The Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638673372" href="https://thefulcrum.us/business-for-america" target="_blank">Business for America</a>, <a data-linked-post="2640917202" href="https://thefulcrum.us/the-people" target="_blank">The People</a>, <a data-linked-post="2638674228" href="https://thefulcrum.us/open-primaries" target="_blank">Open Primaries</a>, <a href="https://moralgovernance.org/" target="_blank">Community Advocates for a Just and Moral Governance</a>, <a href="https://sandiegoindivisible.com/" target="_blank">Indivisible</a> and the <a data-linked-post="2638675412" href="https://thefulcrum.us/directory/independent-voter-project" target="_blank">Independent Voter Project</a>.</p><p>The system, known as "Top4RCV," has emerged as a consensus favorite among nonpartisan election reformers across the country. A similar proposal will be on the ballot this fall in <a href="https://alaskansforbetterelections.com/" target="_blank">Alaska</a> and is gathering preliminary support in states as diverse as Wisconsin and Arkansas.</p><p>Lori Thiel, president of the city's League of Women Voters chapter, described the vote as a missed opportunity to elect "representatives with the broadest base of support, ensuring they're responsible to the most constituents."</p><p>"The measure would have resulted in better representation and a more diverse field of candidates," lamented Geneviéve Jones-Wright of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance. "The measure would have helped us have a more inclusive democracy."</p><p>Advocates are confident that the candidates who win under the proposed system would have the broadest appeal and would campaign in nonpolarizing ways in order to turn off the fewest number of voters.</p><p>"We are very confident that this common-sense method of voting for candidates will gain more support as the word continues to spread around the community, " said Francis Johnson, chairman of Take Back Our Republic's board. "This is a temporary setback."</p><p><em>Visit </em><a href="https://ivn.us/" target="_blank"><em>IVN.us</em></a><em> for more coverage from Independent Voter News.</em></p>
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Maine is at the forefront of efforts to make ranked voting the national norm. The GOP is fighting that.
Debut of ranked voting for president survives in Maine
Jul 16 2020
Maine will be the first state to use ranked-choice voting in a presidential election, because the Republican Party's attempt to block the alternative voting method has failed.
Secretary of State Matt Dunlap announced Wednesday that a petition drive to block the use of RCV for president this fall had come up 2,000 signatures short of the 63,000 ultimately required.
That amounts to a significant symbolic victory for those who view ranking elections as one of the best ways to bolster democracy, because the system tends to reduce partisan polarization and reward centrist candidates. Mainers have been in the vanguard of the effort to expand use of RCV, adopting it for virtually all contests four years ago and implementing it statewide in 2018, despite a handful of legal and legislative challenges.
<p>Last month, when ballot petitions were due for submission, the state Republican Party reported <a href="https://thefulcrum.us/maine-ranked-choice-voting" target="_self">it had collected 72,000 signatures</a>. But state officials tossed 11,000 of them because they were not properly certified by the registrar or were duplicative.</p><p>But Maine GOP Chairwoman Demi Kouzounas said the fight is not over. "It is abundantly clear" that the secretary of state, a Democrat, "used every trick in the book to throw out enough signatures through a litany of technicalities to keep this question off the ballot," Kouzounas said.</p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Sufficient signatures would have ordered a referendum in November on whether to use ranked voting in future presidential contests — and suspended the use of the system this time.</p><p>Under RCV, voters rank as many candidates for each office as they like in order of preference. If no one is ranked on top of most ballots, the person with the fewest No. 1 votes is eliminated and those ballots are redistributed to the second-choice candidates. That process repeats in a series of "instant runoffs" until one candidates breaks the 50 percent threshold.</p><p>Had the petition drive succeeded, the state's four electoral votes would have been awarded to either President Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden — even if neither has majority support, and without regard to whom supporters of third-party candidates would prefer as a backup.</p><p>Republican opposition to RCV has only grown as the voting method has gained more traction across the country. Conservatives were particularly up in arms about it two years ago, after GOP incumbent Bruce Poliquin lost in Maine's 2nd congressional district to Democrat Jared Golden.</p><p>Tuesday's three-way GOP primary to nominate Golden's opponent is now in limbo until election officials redistribute the 23 percent of ballots where the last-place finisher was the top choice.</p><p>The system's likeliest impact on the presidential race is in that same district. For the past half-century Maine has been unusual in awarding one electoral vote to the winner of each House district and two votes to the statewide victor. Biden can probably count on three votes, but Trump has a shot in the 2nd District (he won it four years ago) if no instant runoff is required.</p><p>RCV could also shape the tossup Senate race between GOP incumbent Susan Collins and her Democratic challenger, state House Speaker Sara Gideon.</p>
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State by state, electoral reform is happening — but not fast enough
Jul 09 2020
Fisher is deputy director of Unite America, which works to enact and helps finance political reform efforts and candidates "who put people over party." (It is a donor to The Fulcrum.)
<p>Our Unite America Institute has just graded each state on the status of four key electoral reforms: voting at home, independent redistricting commissions, ranked-choice voting and nonpartisan or open primaries. This was our second annual report, and it finds incremental improvements since last summer, as eight states notched higher marks. </p><p>Yet nine states still have failing grades. — and another 21 have earned a D. (California leads the country with an A-.) </p><p>Only a few states have <a href="https://www.uniteamericainstitute.org/research/state-of-democracy" target="_blank">improved their standin</a>g from a year ago. </p><p>Within the last year, two states (Virginia and Nevada) established permanent absentee voting lists, which allow voters to voluntarily opt in to a system that automatically mails them a ballot for all future elections. <a href="https://wtop.com/virginia/2020/01/va-house-approves-significant-absentee-voting-expansion/" target="_blank">Virginia's reform</a> was complemented by a switch to no-excuse absentee voting and an extension of the deadline to mail ballots. Assembly Bill 345 in Nevada <a href="https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/government/voting-rights-bill-signed-by-nevada-gov-steve-sisolak/" target="_blank">also included</a> provisions expanding poll location options, and allowing for online and same-day registration. </p><p><p style="text-align: center;" id="sufn"><a style="font-weight: bold;margin:40px auto;font-size:2rem" href="https://thefulcrum.us/st/newsletters">Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter </a></p></p><p>Five states (Alaska, Hawaii, Kansas, Nevada, and Wyoming) earned points, because the Democratic Party in those states used ranked-choice voting for their presidential primaries. By all accounts, the process was a success that allowed voters to share their full preferences and the states also showed an increase in voter participation. Utah picked up a point, as well, with both parties using ranked-choice voting for their state and federal nominating caucuses. </p><p>Four cities (Palm Desert, Calif., Easthampton, Mass., Eastpoint, Mich., and New York) also passed measures to adopt ranked-choice voting. In New York alone, where 74 percent of voters said the system should be used for city council and mayoral races, the reform will eventually triple the number of voters using RCV nationwide, and will save the city more than $10 million each election cycle. </p><p><br></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://thefulcrum.us/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ0MDQxNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODY4Njk3MH0.PbueQWL6EJAAxZOUgLRwp60eSEZ0zvW3TP2NApv12VY/image.png?width=980" id="be1c5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4df8c41adbd9bb1fc04d68e24651fc76" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="graph">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Democracy reform progress over the past decade.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Unite America</small></p><p>If the last year saw electoral reform policies inch forward, the next year offers an opportunity to leap ahead.<br></p><p>Ongoing ballot measure campaigns in three states would end the practice of partisan gerrymandering by turning over the map drawing process to an ethics board in <a href="https://northdakotavotersfirst.org/" target="_blank">North Dakota</a>, to a redistricting commission in <a href="https://www.onevirginia2021.org/" target="_blank">Virginia</a> and to an independent commission in <a href="https://arvotersfirst.org/" target="_blank">Arkansas</a>. </p><p>Voters in <a href="https://alaskansforbetterelections.com/" target="_blank">Alaska</a>, <a href="https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2020/may/30/2020-effort-arises-on-ranked-choice-vot-1/?elections" target="_blank">Arkansas</a>, and <a href="https://northdakotavotersfirst.org/" target="_blank">North Dakota</a> will have the chance to approve final-four voting — a powerful combination of nonpartisan primaries with ranked-choice voting for the top four finishers in the fall — for state and federal elections. RCV is also looking to be on the ballot in <a href="https://voterchoice2020.org/" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a>, where more than 2,000 volunteers recently successfully completed the first online petition gathering drive to qualify for a ballot in the country's history. <a href="https://allvotersvote.org/" target="_blank">Florida</a> could improve its standing, too, where voters will be asked to approve a top-two nonpartisan primary system. </p><p>While transitioning to 100 percent vote-at-home systems ahead of this November's elections is an unattainable goal for most states, the current coronavirus crisis has elevated the importance of implementing more permanent policy over the long-term, like Utah and Colorado have done. The 2021 legislative session will likely bring a flurry of legislation to empower all voters to cast more secure, informed and cost-efficient ballots. States like Arizona (where 79 percent of 2018 votes were cast by mail), Montana (72 percent) and New Mexico (63 percent) are leading candidates for making the switch. </p><p>Measuring the progress of the movement to put voters first is an important practice, as our community must demonstrate how quickly we are advancing policies that put voters first. <br><br>Progress on many important issues — from women's suffrage to gay marriage — <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-pace-of-social-change/" target="_blank">has often started slowly, and then happened all at once</a>. This year promises to serve as a potential inflection point that can begin to rapidly accelerate the progress being made. With some new wins on the board, we could be on the precipice of repeating a scale of meaningful change to our democracy not seen since the progressive era. </p>
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