Ranked Choice Voting passes in Maine

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I see in the June 12 Primary in that state, it was run with RCV and a question passed to make it permanent for all statewide races, starting with the General Election in the fall. Maine has a strong independent 3rd party and no one has won the Governor's race with a majority in decades.

Is this something that should be adopted everywhere?

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I have always liked the concept. It would surely beat the " Top two takes all" system we have here in California, which favors one party to the detriment of others. This would leave few people without a voice if used fairly.

Ranked voting is superior, full stop. It would be especially useful in the US where if you don't vote blue or red you throw your vote away. With this if you vote an alternative, if they somehow win, good. If not, you still get your say in the blue or red choice and the US gets to see a true picture of what people want. New parties could spring up safe in the knowledge that it isn't doomed from the start by tactical voting as it is now, leaving these two bloated monsters without competition.

I agree with the other posters.

While it is possible to play games with your vote in a General Election with two major parties and an independent to vote against someone, in a party nomination for a presidential candidate, there is no way to vote against a specific candidate. Two years ago, Trump didn't win a primary with a majority until well into April. If you win with a plurality, most voters voted against you. Are you an acceptable alternative to those who voted for someone else? Why not ask them, and RCV is a good way to do it.

Yes. Ranked has seemed like a good idea to me for a long time.

Here is a vid of the pros AND the cons of ranked taken from a local Minnesota news station.



The "cons" presented here actually seem a bit lame. Basically that it would make elections "too confusing/overwhelming for the poor voter". But all they have to do is just tell voters "just pick one, and you can leave your second and third picks blank". Voters don't have to be indoctrinated to HAVE to pick alternate choices. The issue is that you GET to pick alternate choices if you passionately want to.