| John Palmer, Chrissy Hart | Portland Press Herald |
After another election cycle featuring ranked-choice voting, critics again pointed to delayed tabulations as evidence that the system is broken. Maybe they’re asking a fair question: Why should it take so long to know who won?
The better question is whether Mainers received something valuable in exchange for that wait. The answer from this year’s primaries is a resounding yes.
More choices, more sincere, honest voting
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, 91% of the ballots that were active in Round 1 were active in the final round. Voters were able to support their true first choice and still help determine the eventual nominee if their favorite candidate fell short.
The Republican primary benefited from RCV, too. In the Republican gubernatorial primary, 77% of the ballots ranked enough candidates to remain active in the final round. And those choices coalesced around Bobby Charles. GOP voters got the candidate they wanted.
Nothing about ranked-choice voting requires Mainers to wait a long time for preliminary results. The tabulation itself takes minutes. The delay stems largely from administrative procedures for collecting and processing ballot data — procedures the Legislature could modernize through ordinary legislation.
That problem is solvable. The benefits are worth keeping. This year’s primaries gave Mainers more choices, more sincere, honest voting and nominees with broader support. That’s exactly what ranked-choice voting was designed to do.
John Palmer currently lives in Raymond and is board chair for Rank the Vote. Chrissy Hart lives in South Portland and serves as executive director of the League of Women Voters of Maine.