Does Ranked Choice Voting process need to change?
10 days between primary and final results.
AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) - Does Maine’s Ranked Choice Voting system need to be changed?
It wasn’t until 1:35AM ten days after the primary election that results were finalized.
Critics of RCV say the process takes too long, and results shouldn’t be released in the middle of the night.
We spoke with the University of Maine’s Political Science Chair Mark Brewer about the RCV process.
He says getting it right is the most important thing, but there has to be a way to get there sooner.
“It would be good if we could shorten the duration up,” Brewer said. “I think there are ways to do that, and I think you are right it would probably take an investment of some resources. We all know that resources are tight, but it’s a question that the legislature should ask, Secretary of State’s office should ask. They should investigate what their options are going into the next cycle which of course is going to be a Presidential cycle.”
One suggestion we discussed with Brewer was investing in voting machines that would put all polling places in the state on the same system, removing paper ballot counting as a potential way to expedite the process.
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