Ranked-choice voting worked very well in the June primary, and, by passing the people’s veto to protect ranked-choice voting by a large 8-point margin, Mainers again made it very clear that they want ranked-choice voting.

The people also made it very clear that they support our longstanding referendum process and are fed up with some Augusta politicians trying to curtail our highly valued right to bring issues to the ballot box when Augusta is tied in political knots and fails to address the wants and needs of the people. Last November the people passed MaineCare expansion with a whopping 59 percent of the vote, yet some Augusta politicians are still trying every trick to block the overwhelming will of the people on this issue. Mainers are sick and tired of this. They are fed up with how many votes of the people have been blocked in Augusta, and the vote last June sent a crystal clear message to the Augusta obstructionists that this will not be tolerated.

As to ranked-choice voting, none of the naysayers’ doom-and-gloom scenarios materialized. It did not take “weeks” to get the final result. It was not “confusing.” It did not cost “millions” of dollars. There was no “chaos.” It worked just fine, especially for a first time using it for a statewide election. Ranked-choice voting is simply a runoff voting process that comes into play in multi-candidate elections when no one gets a majority after the first count. It is absolutely “one person, one vote,” just like in any other runoff voting process.

This fall we will use ranked-choice voting for the federal-level general elections to ensure that the winners of those races truly reflect the will of the voters. This is what better democracy looks like.

Ron Bilancia

Brewer