I am troubled by any citizens’ initiative that seeks to trump the Maine Constitution. The Maine constitution states a very specific election requirement: To seat the winning candidates who have “been elected by a plurality of all votes” for Maine representatives, Maine senators, Maine governor, U.S. senators, and U.S. House representatives.
No referendum can or should trump the Maine Constitution. Passage of Question 5 would undoubtedly cost taxpayers millions of dollars to either defend or challenge likely lawsuits concerning ranked-choice voting. I suspect that the state constitution would win over the referendum.
At what cost?
At a minimum, if passed, municipal officers will have a bear of a time implementing ranked-choice voting, and it will be costly to implement in each municipality and the Secretary of State’s Office. Estimates exist that it would cost upward of $1.5 million in new equipment and such.
Who will pay for that? Yet another costly “good idea bus” proposal, at the expense of the hardworking taxpayers.
There is a way to change the Maine Constitution, but not by referendum. No state uses that system. The proposal already died in the Maine Legislature.
Maine residents should put this revived idea to bed for the last time and vote no on Question 5.
John Alexander Pape, Turner
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