Westbrook, MAINE -- Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement today on ranked choice voting:
“Let’s not be mistaken: Maine people have said -- twice now -- that they want to use ranked choice voting to choose their leaders. But rather than take decisive action to implement the will of Maine people, Republicans in the State House have at every turn voted to oppose RCV because they know that their only path to victory is by dividing the electorate.
“So now Republicans are irresponsibly launching repeated and dangerous attacks under the guise of election security to discredit RCV, but let’s not be fooled, they are just afraid that they are headed for defeat under RCV. After all, if they were really concerned about what they say they are, then they would have worked with Democrats to amend the Maine State Constitution; they would have voted to give the Secretary of State’s Office the resources it could use to help ease this process; or, today, they would have jumped at the opportunity to advance a legislative fix.
“But instead, Maine Republicans want to undermine RCV and turn around and sound the alarm about the problems they helped create through their opposition to the peoples’ will in the first place. Maine people will see through it, and Maine Democrats, as we always have, will continue to work in a constructive manner to implement the will of the voters, even in the face of continued Republican opposition.”
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