AUGUSTA, ME – A majority of the Maine Municipal Association’s (MMA) Legislative Policy Committee voted yesterday to support establishing Ranked Choice Voting in the state of Maine. MMA is the state’s largest municipal membership organization. Their 70-member legislative policy panel is responsible for identifying MMA’s advocacy priorities, as well as taking positions on legislative proposals affecting municipalities. Yesterday the panel voted to support L.D. 1557, An Act to Establish Ranked-choice Voting. L.D. 1557 is the product of a grassroots citizen initiative, recently certified by the Secretary of State for a November 2016 referendum.
“The committee’s support for ranked choice voting is an especially strong endorsement,” said former state Senator Dick Woodbury, Chairman of the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting campaign. “It’s important because municipalities play such a central role in conducting Maine’s elections. It means a lot that municipal leaders recognize the value of this reform in improving the process of democracy in Maine.”
“Government at the state and national levels is incredibly polarized, with candidates appealing to the far left or far right for their plurality,” said Bev Uhlenhake, Mayor of the City of Brewer. “Ranked Choice Voting forces candidates to understand the needs and desires of the majority, and therefore is, in my opinion, the best option for changing the tenor of politics in Maine.
“Municipal government understands that we need to work across arbitrary lines to get the work done,” added Uhlenhanke. “I’m pleased but not surprised by the policy committee’s endorsement. Municipalities have been at the crosshairs of partisan politics for a number of years. We get it – there must be a change in how we get things done, or we’re not going to make progress as a state.”
The MMA’s legislative policy committee comprises 70 elected or appointed municipal officials who are elected to the position of LPC Representative by the municipal officers in their district.