‘An Act To Implement Ranked-choice Voting for Presidential General Elections in Maine’
| SP0315 LD 1083 |
Session - 129th Maine Legislature C "B", Filing Number S-314, Sponsored by
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LR 1160 Item 3 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Implement Ranked-choice Voting for Presidential General Elections in Maine’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 21-A MRSA §1, sub-§27-C, as repealed and replaced by PL 2017, c. 316, §1, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 21-A MRSA §801, sub-§2 is enacted to read:
Sec. 3. 21-A MRSA §805, sub-§2, as enacted by PL 1985, c. 161, §6, is amended to read:
Sec. 4. Statutory referendum procedure; submission at statewide election; form of question; effective date. This Act must be submitted to the legal voters of the State at a statewide election held in the month of November following passage of this Act. The municipal officers of this State shall notify the inhabitants of their respective cities, towns and plantations to meet, in the manner prescribed by law for holding a statewide election, to vote on the acceptance or rejection of this Act by voting on the following question:
"Do you favor conducting general elections for President of the United States by ranked-choice voting?"
The legal voters of each city, town and plantation shall vote by ballot on this question and designate their choice by a cross or check mark placed within a corresponding square below the word "Yes" or "No." The ballots must be received, sorted, counted and declared in open ward, town and plantation meetings and returns made to the Secretary of State in the same manner as votes for members of the Legislature. The Governor shall review the returns. If a majority of the legal votes are cast in favor of this Act, the Governor shall proclaim the result without delay and this Act becomes effective 30 days after the date of the proclamation.
The Secretary of State shall prepare and furnish to each city, town and plantation all ballots, returns and copies of this Act necessary to carry out the purposes of this referendum.’
summary
This amendment, which is one of two minority reports of the committee, strikes and replaces the bill. Under the amendment, general elections for presidential electors must be determined by ranked-choice voting if that method of conducting general elections for presidential electors is approved by the voters of the State at referendum.