Maine Supreme Court says proposed ranked-choice voting expansion is unconstitutional

Maine's Supreme Judicial Court said Monday that a proposed expansion of ranked-choice voting would violate the state constitution. A bill pending in the Legislature would expand ranked-choice voting to races for governor and legislative seats by counting only the final vote tally to decide a winner. The bill has enough support in the Democratic-controlled Legislature to pass, but lawmakers asked the state supreme court to examine the constitutionality of the measure, LD 1666, ahead of the 2026 elections. In a unanimous advisory opinion, the justices on Maine's highest court said the language of the state constitution makes clear that the...