Ranked choice voting is working in Maine. It can work everywhere else too

A decade ago, ranked choice voting was one of the most fiercely contested reforms in the colorful history of Maine politics. Now, as voters head to the polls on primary day in the Pine Tree State, RCV has become so accepted that candidates from both parties are openly encouraging voters to rank their rivals.

At a moment when many Americans struggle to imagine how our democracy can improve, Maine’s Democratic and Republican primaries offer a reminder that structural reform not only works, but can become a better form of politics as usual.

Maine voters adopted RCV in 2016 after two crowded, chaotic races in 2010 and 2014 elected Republican Paul LePage — a pugnacious Trump before Trump — to the governor’s mansion without anything resembling majority support. Determined to preserve the state’s tradition of supporting independents, while also solving the spoiler problem such candidates could create, Mainers approved the reform through a statewide initiative.

The establishment fought it. Voters had to battle to preserve a reform they demanded. But today, ranked choice voting is part of the furniture. Voters get the benefits of robust candidate fields without having to cast complicated strategic votes or worry that a polarizing candidate will slip into office with a narrow plurality.

As voters select nominees on Tuesday for governor and a competitive congressional seat that could help determine control of the U.S. House, candidates across the spectrum are demonstrating just how deeply RCV has become woven into the state’s politics.

Under Maine’s system, candidates compete to be the first choice, but must also appeal to all voters as a viable second choice. This spring, Democratic gubernatorial candidates Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson and Hannah Pingree announced that they would rank each other on their ballots and encouraged supporters to do the same. Former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah also urged voters to consider ranking him second if he was not their first choice.

The same dynamic has blossomed within the GOP. Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert Wessels announced that he would rank Jonathan Bush second. “Jonathan and I closely align on the solutions to fix our government and our economy,” Wessels said. Then, during a debate, David Jones and Ben Midgley announced an alliance of their own.

As Maine voters of both parties select their nominees this week, candidates across the political spectrum are demonstrating just how deeply ranked choice voting has become woven into the state’s politics.

That would have been almost unthinkable pre-RCV. Now, there is room for coalition building, not just old-school negative politics. This change is especially striking given Maine’s history. After the state adopted RCV, LePage questioned its legitimacy. In 2018, when Democrat Jared Golden defeated GOP incumbent Bruce Poliquin in the state’s 2nd congressional district (which Donald Trump has carried three times), Poliquin sued unsuccessfully to overturn the result.

Now, just as Democrats have encouraged voters to rank candidates in the same lane, Republicans are forming alliances, seeking second-choice support and competing more widely for every vote. RCV is the new normal. Now, the debate is how to compete within the new system that voters successfully demanded.

That may be the most powerful measure of a reform’s success. The incentive structure has changed in Maine, and with it, the way that candidates campaign. Just as voters wanted.

The effects can be seen everywhere. Labor unions and advocacy groups have embraced ranked endorsements, encouraging supporters to back multiple candidates rather than just one. On debate stages, candidates still draw distinctions with one another, but they also compliment their opponents and highlight areas of agreement. Recent polling found that most primary voters planned to rank multiple candidates in the crowded governor’s race. Big majorities said the ballot was easy to understand – the same result found in every poll of Maine voters over the last several years.

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That is how reform works. It becomes ordinary. Americans searching for reasons to believe that we can repair our democracy should pay attention to Maine today, and not just for the controversy surrounding Democrat Graham Platner in the U.S. Senate race. The rules of politics really can change. Voters can demand something better. When smart reforms prove that they deliver stronger campaigns and majority winners, they can become the new normal.

That’s real hope amid this dangerous, uncertain moment. Reform is possible. What begins among a core of determined activists can quickly become the way democracy works.

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