STATE OF MAINE
_____
In Senate__________
WHEREAS, it appears to the 132nd Legislature that the following is an important question
of law and that this is a solemn occasion; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution of Maine, Article VI, Section 3 provides for the Justices of
the Supreme Judicial Court to render their opinion on such a question; and
WHEREAS, separate provisions of the Constitution of Maine, adopted at different times,
provide that persons elected to the House of Representatives must be elected “by a plurality of
all votes returned,” Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First, Section 5; those elected to the
Senate must be “by a plurality of the votes in each senatorial district” and the Senate determines
"who is elected by a plurality of votes to be Senator in each district," Article IV, Part Second,
Section 4 and Section 5; and those elected as Governor must be "by plurality of all of the votes
returned," Article V, Part First, Section 3; and
WHEREAS, on November 8, 2016, the voters of Maine approved the use of ranked-choice
voting in state elections, Initiated Bill 2015, chapter 3; and
WHEREAS, on May 23, 2017, the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court answered
questions in an advisory opinion regarding the constitutionality of ranked-choice voting in light
of the plurality provisions of the Constitution of Maine, Article IV and Article V; and
WHEREAS, as a result of a people's veto of portions of Public Law 2017, chapter 316,
the general and special elections for the offices of Governor, State Senator and State
Representative were removed from the list of those offices to which ranked-choice voting
applied; and
WHEREAS, starting with the June 12, 2018 primary elections, Maine has conducted
numerous successful elections using ranked-choice voting, including primary and general
elections in races for the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate and
primary elections for the Maine House of Representatives, Maine Senate and Governor; and
WHEREAS, Maine has not used ranked-choice voting in general elections for state office,
resulting in general election ballots containing both ranked-choice voting and conventional
“first past the post” voting; and
WHEREAS, having 2 different election systems on a single ballot is potentially confusing
and disruptive to the voting process; and
WHEREAS, in Kohlhaas et al. v. State of Alaska, Office of Lieutenant Governor, Division
of Elections, 518 P.3d 1095 (Alaska 2022), in considering whether ranked-choice voting
violates a provision of the Alaska Constitution requiring the person "receiving the greatest
number of votes" to be the governor, Alaska Constitution, Article III, §3, a requirement that is
substantially similar to the requirements of the Constitution of Maine, the Alaska Supreme
Court held that, because a candidate wins a plurality of the votes only after the final round of
tabulation, Alaska’s ranked-choice voting statute conformed with the Alaska Constitution’s
plurality provision; and
WHEREAS, in Advisory Opinion 2024-12, the Federal Election Commission concluded
unequivocally "that the entire ranked-choice voting process, including all necessary rounds of
vote tallying, … constitutes a single election" and recognized that, unlike traditional run-off
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elections, ranked-choice voting does not allow for any additional periods of campaigning and
voting; and
WHEREAS, Legislative Document 1666, Senate Paper 660, An Act to Include in the
Ranked-choice Election Method for General and Special Elections the Offices of Governor,
State Senator and State Representative and to Make Other Related Changes, referred to in this
order as "L.D. 1666," amends Maine’s ranked-choice voting law to conform with the plurality
election provisions of the Constitution of Maine and restores the use of ranked-choice voting
for general elections for Governor, State Senator and State Representative; and
WHEREAS, on June 18, 2025, having been passed to be enacted by both the House of
Representatives and the Senate, L.D. 1666 was presented to the Governor for her signature;
and
WHEREAS, upon presentment of L.D. 1666 to the Governor, questions were raised
regarding the application of the Constitution of Maine's plurality provisions to this legislation
in light of recent legal precedent; and
WHEREAS, on June 25, 2025, the Senate recalled L.D. 1666 from the Governor’s desk
and then carried it over, in the same posture, to the next special or regular session of the 132nd
Legislature, so that an answer to the constitutionality of L.D. 1666 could be obtained; and
WHEREAS, several candidates for Governor in the 2026 election have already registered
their campaigns and begun their efforts while others are likely to enter the race before the end
of the qualification period, all of whom would be affected by the manner in which the general
election is conducted; and
WHEREAS, an answer to the constitutionality of L.D. 1666 is required before candidates,
their supporters and the voting public begin engaging in earnest in the 2026 campaign; and
WHEREAS, if the ranked-choice method of voting, as amended by L.D. 1666, was applied
to elections in 2026 without resolution of the constitutional question presented here, a candidate
for Governor, State Senator or State Representative who achieved an apparent plurality of the
votes counted by city and town officials but failed to prevail in the subsequent round or rounds
conducted under the supervision of the Secretary of State pursuant to ranked-choice voting
could challenge that candidate’s declared loss as a violation of the plurality vote requirement
in the Constitution of Maine for the position sought by that candidate and thereby place the
validity of the election into question and delay the seating of a Governor, State Senator or State
Representative; and
WHEREAS, failing to address important and unresolved questions about the
constitutionality of ranked-choice voting before the end of the current legislative session would
potentially cause chaos and uncertainty in the races now beginning; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature requests guidance from the Justices of the Supreme Judicial
Court as to the constitutionality of L.D. 1666 so that it may determine, during the Second
Regular Session of the 132nd Legislature, whether it is necessary to propose constitutional
amendments for submission to the voters for approval in order to implement ranked-choice
voting for elections held thereafter; and
WHEREAS, it is vital that the Legislature be informed at the earliest possible date as to
the opinions of the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court on the question propounded in this
order; now, therefore, be it
ORDERED, that, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Maine, the
Legislature respectfully requests the Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court to provide to the
Legislature the Justices' opinion on the following question of law:
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 Question: Does the method of arriving at a plurality of votes cast through the use of ranked-
choice voting, as amended by L.D. 1666, in which a person's vote is not determined until the
final round of tabulation and in which the candidate with the highest continuing ranking on the
most ballots after the final round of tabulation is determined to have received a plurality of
votes cast, conform with the provisions of the Constitution of Maine, Article IV, Part First,
Section 5; Article IV, Part Second, Section 4 and Section 5; and Article V, Part First, Section
3?
SPONSORED BY: ___________________________________
(Senator RENY, C.)
COUNTY: Lincoln
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