Maine House advances bill to allow ranked-choice voting in communities statewide

House Democrats gave initial approval Tuesday to a bill that would allow all of Maine’s municipalities to adopt ranked-choice voting.

Rep. Seth Berry, D-Bowdoinham, said that currently, only a relatively small number of cities and larger towns have charters that govern election rules, which would allow them to adopt ranked-choice voting. His bill would expand that right to the 413 Maine municipalities that do not have official charters and are instead governed by state law, which requires them to decide elections through a plurality vote.

Berry, the bill’s sponsor, said...