Bill would change Maine's voting system to 'instant runoff'

[MaineDem]

AUGUSTA — Chris Hourcle voted for Ralph Nader for president in 2000, but didn't even look at his platform last fall. The Bar Harbor resident instead picked a candidate who had a chance to win - not one he believed in. "I decided I couldn't risk it," Hourcle said.

Two Portland lawmakers are pushing for a new law to take that risk out of voting. State House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, and Sen. Ethan Strimling, D-Portland, want the state to use a so-called instant runoff system.

Under it, a candidate's electability would no longer be a factor. Voters instead would get to rank their choices for president, governor and legislative seats on their ballots. Those preferences would help to determine the winner if no candidate got a majority of the votes.

"There is no place in Maine for an unfair system that leaves people feeling their vote does not matter," Cummings told the Legislature's Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee during a public hearing Monday.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/news/state/050201voting.shtml