(The Center Square) — Maine’s highest court on Monday ruled that a proposal to expand ranked choice voting to state elections is unconstitutional, delivering a major win to Republicans who challenged the effort to upend the state’s election system.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s decision sided with GOP leaders who argued that a bill to expand ranked choice voting to general elections for governor, state representative and state senator would violate the Maine Constitution.
“Because of the Maine Constitution’s language, there are strong and convincing reasons that LD 1666 is unconstitutional, and we conclude that the presumption of constitutionality has been overcome,” the justices wrote in the unanimous opinion.
The ruling comes in response to a request from Democratic legislative leaders, who asked the SJC to rule on the legality of the recently approved bill to expand ranked-choice voting.
“Today is a good day,” Maine GOP Chairman Jim Deyermond said in a statement. “The Constitution of Maine is preserved and respected, and this decision provides clarity against
efforts to pollute our state elections with Ranked-Choice Voting.”
“Even in times when we often mistrust our institutions, we can rely upon our Constitution and deliberative Justices to render the correct decision,” Deyermond said, adding that the ruling will “end the attempts from the radical left” to expand ranked choice voting.
Maine is one of only two states, including Alaska, that use the system in statewide elections. At least 19 states, most controlled by Republicans, have outlawed it.
Maine’s system, approved by voters in 2016, was used in the 2020 presidential election and several congressional races; it has survived repeal efforts and legal challenges. A 2017 SJC advisory opinion limited ranked-choice voting to congressional contests and party primaries, but Democrats have been pushing to expand the system.
In their ruling Monday, justices said their rejection of the proposed expansion “does not reflect or turn on the wisdom” of voters’ decision to approve RCV, “but rather rests on fundamental constitutional principles.”
“Legislation passed by a simple majority in each house or passed through direct initiative expresses the will of the people,” they wrote. “But the Constitution itself also expresses the will of the people and requires a two-thirds vote of both houses and a majority of the electors — rather than a simple majority in each house or a simple majority of the electors — to amend the Constitution.”
Unlike the winner-take-all voting system, ranked choice requires voters to list candidates in order of preference. The system comes into play in crowded races when no candidate gets 50% of the votes. When that happens, the candidate who got the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated and re-tabulated until someone wins a majority.
Supporters of ranked choice say it ensures winning candidates have broad support and gives voters more options. Critics say ranked choice voting is too confusing and unconstitutional.
The Maine Republican Party unsuccessfully sued to stop the state from using ranked choice in the 2020 election. The suit was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
But the latest legal challenge was aided by one of Maine’s top Democrats, Attorney General Aaron Frey, who recently broke with his party by opposing the proposed expansion of ranked choice voting in state elections. He filed a brief calling on justices to reject the “unconstitutional” plan.
