Re: Maine RCV

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Greetings gentleman,

And thanks Rob,

So, not even approval would pass? Nothing beyond plurality?

On Wed, 15 Apr 2026, 6:08=E2=80=AFpm Rob Lanphier via Election-Methods, <
[email protected]> wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> Interesting report by Sara Wolk on votingtheory.org:
>
> https://www.votingtheory.org/forum/topic/606/rcv-found-unconstitutional-i=
n-maine
>
> In short: the Maine legislature decided to expand RCV/IRV beyond federal
> offices to state and local offices, but worried about both a governor's
> veto, and/or an overturn from Maine's high court (the "SJC" or "Supreme
> Judicial Court").  So, rather than sending it to the governor (whose veto
> could be for many reasons), they sent it to the SJC first.  The SJC said =
"*The
> Maine Constitution, construed as a whole, treats a 'vote' as a single
> choice, tallied by a municipality*"  That not only has implications for
> RCV, but many other systems too.  A brief explainer with direct links the
> SJC opinion and some key quotes from them is available on electowiki:
> https://electowiki.org/wiki/Maine#2026_advisory_opinion
>
> The "*tallied by a municipality*" caveat is interesting, since it implies
> precinct summability is important to the SJC.
>
> Thoughts?
> Rob
> p.s. my cursory investigation of this topic was in preparation for the
> ElectoramaCall, which is happening in a few hours:
> https://electowiki.org/wiki/ElectoramaCall
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> Election-Methods mailing list - see https://electorama.com/em for list
> info
>

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<div dir=3D"auto">Greetings gentleman,<div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=
=3D"auto">And thanks Rob,</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto=
">So, not even approval would pass? Nothing beyond plurality?</div></div><b=
r><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=
=3D"gmail_attr">On Wed, 15 Apr 2026, 6:08=E2=80=AFpm Rob Lanphier via Elect=
ion-Methods, &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">e=
[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote cl=
ass=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;p=
adding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr">Hi folks,<div><br></div><div>Interesting =
report by Sara Wolk on <a href=3D"http://votingtheory.org" target=3D"_blank=
" rel=3D"noreferrer">votingtheory.org</a>:</div><div><a href=3D"https://www=
.votingtheory.org/forum/topic/606/rcv-found-unconstitutional-in-maine" targ=
et=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">https://www.votingtheory.org/forum/topic/6=
06/rcv-found-unconstitutional-in-maine</a></div><div><br></div><div>In shor=
t: the Maine legislature decided to expand RCV/IRV beyond federal offices t=
o state and local offices, but worried about both a governor&#39;s veto, an=
d/or an overturn from Maine&#39;s high court (the &quot;SJC&quot; or &quot;=
Supreme Judicial Court&quot;).=C2=A0 So, rather than sending it to the gove=
rnor (whose veto could be for many reasons), they sent it to the SJC first.=
=C2=A0 The SJC said &quot;<i>The Maine Constitution, construed as a whole, =
treats a &#39;vote&#39; as a single choice, tallied by a municipality</i>&q=
uot;=C2=A0 That not only has implications for RCV, but many other systems t=
oo.=C2=A0 A brief explainer with direct links the SJC opinion and some key =
quotes from them is available=C2=A0on electowiki:</div><div><a href=3D"http=
s://electowiki.org/wiki/Maine#2026_advisory_opinion" target=3D"_blank" rel=
=3D"noreferrer">https://electowiki.org/wiki/Maine#2026_advisory_opinion</a>=
</div><div><br></div><div>The &quot;<i>tallied by a municipality</i>&quot; =
caveat is interesting, since it implies precinct summability is important t=
o the SJC.</div><div><br></div><div>Thoughts?</div><div>Rob</div><div>p.s. =
my cursory investigation of this topic was in preparation for the Electoram=
aCall, which is happening in a few hours:</div><div><a href=3D"https://elec=
towiki.org/wiki/ElectoramaCall" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">https:=
//electowiki.org/wiki/ElectoramaCall</a></div></div>
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Election-Methods mailing list - see <a href=3D"https://electorama.com/em" r=
el=3D"noreferrer noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://electorama.com/em</a=
> for list info<br>
</blockquote></div>

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