Bill > LD656

This bill modifies Maine's ranked-choice voting procedure by changing the criteria for declaring a winner when only two or fewer candidates remain in the election. Under the current law, the candidate with the most votes would be declared the winner, but this bill requires that the candidate must now have a majority (more than 50%) of votes cast in that round to be declared the winner. The change is specifically being made to Title 21-A of the Maine Revised Statutes Annotated (MRSA), Section 723-A, which governs ranked-choice voting. Ranked-choice voting is an electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference, allowing for multiple rounds of vote counting where lower-performing candidates are eliminated and their voters' subsequent preferences are redistributed. This bill aims to ensure that the final winner has more substantial support from voters by requiring a majority rather than simply the most votes in the final round of counting.

Military Affairs and Security

https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/bills/display_ps.asp?LD=656&snum=132