AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - The Maine Senate, secretary of state and an advocacy group on Wednesday asked the state supreme court to weigh in on whether to allow voters to rank their candidate choices during the June primaries as the deadline for printing ballots draws near.
Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy on Wednesday allowed supporters and opponents to pose questions directly to the high court, which was asked to intervene because of constitutional issues raised about the voting system approved by Maine voters in 2016.
Murphy thanked the lawyers for working together to expedite the matter.
“I know you all share the court’s view that we owe the people of Maine as much certainty as we can provide as they go to the polls on June 12,” she said.
It’s up to the high court to decide whether to answer the questions. But time is of the essence because a decision is needed this month to allow time to print ballots and to ensure they’re distributed to Mainers serving in the military overseas and to other residents voting from outside the state.
The system allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference. A candidate with a majority of votes wins. If there’s no majority, then the last-place candidate’s votes are reallocated to the remaining candidates.
Supporters say the system ensures a majority winner and eliminates the impact of spoilers. Critics say it’s confusing and could lead to lawsuits.
Ranked-choice voting is used in more than a dozen cities, but it’s been used only once before in a statewide election, for a judge in North Carolina.
Maine’s high court could decide issues such as whether Secretary of State Matt Dunlap would violate constitutional separation of powers by spending public funds to use ranked-choice voting. The court also could weigh into whether the state can even use ranked-choice voting when one part of state law calls for primary winners to receive “plurality” support.
Mainers approved the new voting concept in a statewide referendum in November 2016, but state lawmakers delayed its implementation. More than 62,000 petitions were collected to temporarily halt the legislative delay pending a second statewide vote on June 12.
The state supreme court already weighed in once on ranked-choice voting, issuing an advisory opinion that it’s unconstitutional for general elections for governor and state legislators.
Because of the previous ruling, the system could be used for primary elections and, if approved, for federal elections in November.
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This story has been corrected to show issues in the case could be decided by the supreme court in Maine, not Vermont.
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