Maine legislators weigh expanding state's ranked-choice voting system [View all]

On Feb. 10, Maine legislators approved a bill requiring the use of ranked-choice voting to elect the governor and members of the state legislature. Before advancing the legislation to Gov. Janet Mills (D), the legislature is waiting for advice from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.

In the ranked-choice voting system currently used in Maine, a candidate who wins a majority of first-preference votes is the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.

Ballots that ranked an eliminated candidate as their first or highest choice, depending on the round, are then reevaluated and counted as first-preference ballots for the next-highest-ranked candidate in that round. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of ballots. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.

In 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, which authorized the use of RCV for all congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections.


https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/21/maine-legislators-weigh-expanding-states-ranked-choice-voting-system/