Supporters of ranked-choice voting in Maine got a boost this month from an unexpected source – Academy Award-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Known for her roles in “The Hunger Games” series, the “X-Men” series, “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Winter’s Bone,” and more recently the “Red Sparrow” movies, to name a few, Lawrence appears in an advertisement that advocates for ranked-choice voting.

“When we heard that Katniss Everdeen (the fictional character Lawrence portrayed in ‘The Hunger Games’) wanted to help us we thought it was fitting because, like us, Katniss is a symbol of rebellion,” said Cara McCormick, the treasurer of The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting.

Although ranked-choice voting was approved by Maine voters in 2016, it has been postponed and repealed by the Maine Legislature. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to keep it.

McCormick said that her committee had been talking with Boston-based Represent.Us about ways to make sure the measure, Question 1, is approved on June 12. Represent.Us suggested that Lawrence, who serves on its board of directors, might be willing to endorse ranked-choice voting.

“She graciously offered to help us,” McCormick said. “She said she wanted to help us shine a light on ranked-choice voting.”

The website for Represent.Us describes its mission as bringing together “conservatives, progressives and everyone in between to pass powerful anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money, and fix our broken elections.”

Lawrence’s ad for ranked-choice voting began to appear last week on social media sites, including on You Tube, Facebook, Spotify and Instagram.

Though Lawrence speaks for only 33 seconds in the 1 minute, 18 second clip on You Tube, she starts by asking if people are aware that Tuesday’s ballot will have another question on ranked-choice voting in which voters will decide whether to keep the system.

“Over the past year, I’ve been working with both conservatives and progressives on nonpartisan initiatives that will help make government work better for all Americans,” Lawrence says.

“The people of Maine approved ranked-choice voting in 2016, a simple, fair, common-sense system of voting, but the state Legislature overturned it,” she says. “On June 12, protect ranked choice and our Democracy by voting yes on Question 1.”

The rest of the ad is devoted to explaining the process of ranking candidates until one has a majority and is declared the winner.

McCormick said her committee is hopeful that Lawrence will raise awareness and help get voters, especially young voters, out to the polls Tuesday.

“She is a well-recognized, honest, earnest, authentic woman, who can only help us,” McCormick said.

Lawrence, 27, has been active on nonpartisan political reform issues and announced earlier this year that she was taking part of the year off from acting so that she could focus on political activism.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com

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CLARIFICATION: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. on June 8, 2018, to clarify a quote by Cara McCormick.