AUGUSTA (AP) — A new voting method that Mainers approved in November has withstood a court conclusion that it’s unconstitutional and now a legislative repeal effort.
A bill to repeal the ranked-choice voting law died Wednesday following legislative votes.
Democratic Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap’s office will begin preparing to implement the system for the 2018 races. Dunlap said his office will start drawing up regulations despite lacking funding to implement the new system.
It’s been a long, strange journey.
The Maine supreme court issued an advisory opinion saying the voter-approved law is unconstitutional for races for state offices. A proposed constitutional amendment failed.
Democratic Sen. Bill Diamond, a former secretary of state, said he hopes that lawmakers will settle the issue in January to avoid future litigation.
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