On Monday, The Maine Morning Star posted an article about a recent decision by the Maine Supreme Court.

The article reports:

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday 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 stated in a unanimous opinion. 

The bill passed initial votes in the Maine Senate and House of Representatives, but was tabled in the upper chamber while awaiting the ruling from the court. The court’s ruling is advisory, but Gov. Janet Mills previously said she opposed the legislation, but would be interested in the court’s ruling.

The article notes:

However, the League of Women Voters of Maine — which has been advocating for ranked choice voting in Maine since initially passed by referendum in 2016 — said they disagreed with the court’s assessment.

“We continue to hold the legal perspective that ranked choice voting is lawful within the framework of Maine’s Constitution,” said executive director Chrissy Hart. “RCV is the best method in Maine to elect candidates that receive broad support, and RCV has long been popular among Maine voters. While the justices’ opinion is disappointing, it will not stop us from advocating for the will of the people and fighting for what they approved in the 2016 referendum.”

Ranked choice voting is confusing and does not necessarily elect the person who gets the majority of the votes.

Ballotpedia posted a chart explaining how this could happen:

Click here to see the chart more clearly.

Depending on how voters mark their ballots, under ranked choice voting, a candidate who was the second or third choice of voters can easily win an election. This is not progress, it is confusion designed to create chaos.