On April 6, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a bill expanding ranked-choice voting (RCV) to general elections for governor and the state Legislature would violate the state’s constitution.

Maine currently uses RCV in elections for Congress and president, as well as presidential primaries and primaries for governor and the state legislature.

In 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, which authorized the use of RCV for all congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections. 

A year later, however, the state supreme court issued an advisory opinion that said using RCV in general elections for governor and state legislature violated the Maine Constitution. The court found that RCV conflicts with a constitutional requirement that the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes be declared the winner.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in both the Maine House of Representatives and the state Senate approved LD 1666, which would require the use of RCV for general and special elections for governor and the state legislature. Legislators sent a similar bill to Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) desk in 2025 but recalled it for further consideration in 2026.

Legislators opted to wait for an advisory opinion from the state supreme court before sending the bill to Mills this year. Under the Maine Constitution, the court is required to issue an advisory opinion if it is requested by the governor or either chamber of the legislature. Oral arguments were held on April 1.

Proponents of the bill said that the court should consider a similar case in Alaska. In 2022, the Alaska Supreme Court held that RCV was compatible with the state constitution because a candidate wins a plurality of the votes after the final round of RCV tabulation.

Opponents of the bill said that, because the definitions in the state constitution have not changed since the 2017 ruling, the expansion of RCV was still unconstitutional.

In a unanimous advisory opinion, the court ruled that “there are strong and convincing reasons that L.D. 1666 is unconstitutional” if it were to be enacted. It also held that the Alaska case was not relevant, as Maine’s constitution has different language.

“Unlike the Alaska Constitution, which delegates broad authority to Alaska’s Legislature to oversee elections and does not specify the way in which votes are cast, sorted, counted, and declared … the Maine Constitution provides significant detail about what it means to cast a vote that we simply cannot ignore,” the justices wrote.

Democratic governors appointed all current members of the court.

Sen. Cameron Reny (D), the bill’s author, said, “As legislators, it’s our responsibility to make sure the laws they enact are fully and faithfully implemented. The legislature has done everything we could within the bounds of the process, and while this proposal won’t move forward, the work doesn’t end here. I remain committed to finding a lawful path to uphold the will of Maine people.”

Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart (R) said, “Instead of trying to amend the constitution to comply with the Law Court’s 2017 ruling, legislative Democrats tried to bulldoze around it by redefining ‘plurality’ and ‘vote.' The justices were right to act quickly and declare this highly questionable rewrite of election law unconstitutional. Today is a good day for those who believe in both the sanctity of our elections and the constitution.”

LD 1666 is one of three bills that have advanced this session that would require or allow RCV in state or local elections. 

In Virginia, legislation allowing the use of RCV in elections for any local governing body is currently on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) desk.

In Colorado, the state House passed a bill that requires counties with a population of 70,000 or more to have five county commissioners and authorizes the use of RCV for those elections.

Two states, Indiana and Ohio, have enacted legislation in 2026 banning RCV, while Michigan advanced a bill prohibiting RCV in 2025.

In the ranked-choice voting system currently used in Maine, a candidate who wins a majority of first-preference votes wins the election. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated. Ballots that ranked an eliminated candidate as their highest choice are then reevaluated and counted as first-preference ballots for the next-highest-ranked candidate. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of ballots. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.