Six Maine Representatives and one Maine State Senator have introduced LD 114. It proves for a top-two system. Ranked choice voting would still be used in the primary, but not in the general election. Write-in space would be eliminated in the general election. Here is the text.

The Maine Constitution requires that state offices be filled by plurality, not majority. The Maine Supreme Court has already ruled that this means that ranked choice voting can’t be used for state office. Therefore, it would seem the same decision would also prohibit LD 114 from taking effect, if it were passed.

The authors did not provide for any ballot language explaining to voters that the party label on the ballot does not mean the candidate is a party nominee.

The authors are six Democrats and one independent, Kent Ackley. The six Democrats are Senator Geoffrey Gratwick, and Representatives Deanne Rykerson, Anne-Marie Mastraccio, Michael Sylvester, Diane Denk, and Michele Meyer.

Pennsylvania will hold a special election on March 12 to fill the vacancy in the 190th district State House seat. Four candidates are on the ballot, a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, and the Working Families nominee, Pamela K. Williams. This is the first time the Working Families Party has ever appeared on the ballot in Pennsylvania. The 190th district is in Philadelphia.

On February 1, the Hawaii House Judiciary Committee defeated HB 167, which would have removed the column on petitions for the signer to place the last four digits of the signer’s Social Security number.