Proposal to Expand Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine Is Unconstitutional: Maine Supreme Court

State lawmakers asked the Court to examine the bill ahead of the 2026 elections. The justices returned a unanimous advisory opinion against it.

Voters fill out and cast their ballots at the Cross Insurance Center polling location where the entire city votes in Bangor, Maine, on Nov. 3, 2020. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

A proposed expansion of ranked-choice voting in Maine would violate the state Constitution, the Maine Supreme Court opined on Monday.

The bill, L.D. 1666, has enough support to pass the Democrat-majority Legislature. It proposes broadening ranked-choice voting to gubernatorial and state legislative seats, counting only the final vote tally to determine a winner.

State lawmakers asked the Maine Supreme Court to examine the legislation before the 2026 elections. The justices returned a unanimous advisory opinion against the proposal.

“L.D. 1666’s conception of a vote as being a series of instructions or rankings that when tabulated pursuant to a ranked-choice process leads to an eventual final vote is inconsistent with the constitutional concept of a ‘vote,’” the justices said.

Maine’s Constitution is clear, according to the high court, in that the first candidate to achieve a “plurality”—or relative majority—of the vote wins the race, and additional counting done during a ranked-choice runoff is not allowed.

“Under the Constitution, for each of the offices at issue here, a single vote is taken, with the votes sorted, counted, and declared once and then submitted by each municipality to the Secretary of State,” the opinion read.

Under state statutes but not the state Constitution, ranked-choice voting is allowed in Maine’s gubernatorial and legislative primaries, and also in all federal races in the state.

Maine voters approved ranked-choice voting in the 2016 election, becoming the first state to adopt the system for electing their governor, Legislature, and members of Congress. The law took effect in the 2018 statewide election.

While the Supreme Court justices agreed Monday that the state Legislature can dictate how votes are counted, their opinion noted that it cannot redefine the word “vote.”

“Viewed in context, the provisions requiring election by a plurality of voters do not allow for the counting of additional votes, or ’tabulations,‘ based on ’instruction from the voter,''' the justices said. ”The proposed legislation is thus contrary to the Constitution.”

The League of Women Voters of Maine, which argued in favor of the ranked-choice voting expansion before the high court, expressed its continued support for the method after the high court opinion.

“[Ranked-choice voting] is the best method in Maine to elect candidates that receive broad support, and RCV has long been popular among Maine voters,” said executive director for the League of Women Voters of Maine Chrissy Hart. “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.”

Republican state lawmakers have consistently argued against ranked-choice voting in Maine.

“Maine voters deserve elections that are clear, transparent, and constitutional,” Maine Republican Party Chairman Jim Deyermond said.