Group seeks automatic runoff votes

by ANN S. KIM, Staff Writer
Portland Press Herald
Tuesday, March 13, 2007

for original article

AUGUSTA - A nonpartisan group of lawmakers is proposing to change the way Mainers choose their governor.
Instead of marking only their top choice on ballots, as they do now, voters would rank candidates in order of preference.
Supporters of the method, called "instant runoff voting," say it would let Mainers express their true preferences in the voting booth, rather than automatically vote for a major-party candidate because they fear a "spoiler" situation.
"The current system particularly discourages people who have an independent streak, and a lot of Mainers are independent-minded," said Jon Hinck, D-Portland, the lead sponsor.
The new method would simulate the tallies that would take place in a series of runoff elections. If no candidate received a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated in each round, with his or her votes going to the voters' second choices. The process would be repeated until a candidate emerged with a majority.
The bill would not take effect until 2014, to provide time to deal with costs, administrative issues and voter education, Hinck said.
Instant runoff voting has been used in local elections in municipalities including San Francisco, Burlington, Vt., and Cambridge, Mass.
Presidential elections in Ireland and House of Representative races in Australia are runoffs. South Carolina, Arkansas and Louisiana use the system for overseas military voters, according to Fair Vote, a Maryland-based organization that promotes the use of instant-runoff voting.
Some supporters may be inspired in part by the 2000 presidential election, in which Ralph Nader often is accused of siphoning votes from Al Gore, said Ryan O'Donnell, a Fair Vote spokesman. But he said there's more to the trend than the 2000 election. "I think, when it comes down to it, people want a system that serves them best," he said.
Instant runoff voting would ensure election of the candidate preferred by voters, said Rep. L. Gary Knight, R-Livermore Falls, one of the co-sponsors. He noted that Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, was elected by 38 percent of the voters, though the legislation should not be considered a criticism of Baldacci.
"There are many in the state who do not understand why someone can obtain an elected position without getting the majority of the votes," Knight told the Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee during a public hearing on Monday.
Committee members expressed concerns about cost, voter education and the logistics of counting ballots.
A 2005 secretary of state's report on the feasibility of instant runoff voting showed that San Francisco spent more than $2.7 million to switch, said Sen. Debra Plowman, R-Hampden.
"I don't know where you are going to find that kind of money," she said.
Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, another co-sponsor, said he doesn't think the cost would be high in Maine.
He said the state probably could use federal funds for the change.
The Maine Municipal Association opposes the bill, citing concerns about voter confusion.
The Secretary of State's Office is opposed because of the potential costs.
Vermont lawmakers are considering similar legislation, but Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn noted that the system has not been adopted on a statewide level yet.
"We really don't know what are the costs that are going to arise," she said.
The bill's supporters included Common Cause of Maine, the League of Young Voters and Pat LaMarche, the Green Party candidate for governor in 2006.
Sandy Maisel, director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College, said instant runoff voting is the fairest way to cast votes. Maisel, a Democratic party activist, said he doesn't believe that the system would give an edge to either party.
"It seems anybody should be interested in this purely for democratic -- small "d" democratic -- reasons," he said.