An Act To Bring Maine 1s Ranked-choice Voting Law into Constitutional Compliance
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1646
Committee Amendment CA_C_H569 (House)
Amends: 21-A MRSA §723-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "( 1" to H.P. 1137, L.D. 1646, Bill, "An Act To 
Bring Maine
1s Ranked-choice Voting Law into Constitutional Compliance" 
Amend the bill by strildng out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Implement Ranked-choice Voting in 2019 for All State Primary 
Elections and for General Elections for Offices of United States Senator and United 
States Representative to Congress' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 27-C in paragraph A in the last line (page 1, 
line 7 in L.D.) by inserting at the end the following: 1and1 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 27-C in paragraph B in the last line (page 1, 
line 9 in L.D.) by striking out the following: 
; and
and inserting the following: 
1~1 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 27-C by striking out all of paragraph C 
(page 1, lines 10 to 16 in L.D.) 
Amend the bill in section 5 in subsection 1 by strildng out all of the first sentence 
(page 2, lines 5 to 8 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'In a primary election held before December 1, 2019, the person who receives a plurality 
of the votes cast for nomination to any office, as long as there is at least one vote cast for 
that office, is nominated for that office, except for write-in candidates under paragraph A. 
In a primary election held on or after December 1, 2019, the person who is determined 
the winner pursuant to section 723-A for nomination to any office, as long as. there is at 
least one vote cast for that office is nominated for that office exce t for write-in 
candidat s under paragraph A. 1 
Amend the bill by adding after section 9 the following: 
1Sec. 10. 21-A MRSA §723-A, sub-§6, as enacted by IB 2015, c. 3, §5, is 
amended to read: 
6, Application. This section applies to elections held on or after J11nuarv 1. 201 g 
December 1, 2019. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
fJ r)·C e· 
r,,.,' r ,) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT,[:_," to H.P. 1137, L.D. 1646 
Sec. 11. Secretary of State to report. The Secretary of State shall conduct an 
evaluation of implementation of ranked-choice voting for primary elections for the 
offices of United States Senator, United States Representative to Congress, Governor, 
State Senator and State Representative and general and special elections for the offices of 
United States Senator and United States Representative to Congress, including, but not 
limited to, identification of statutory conflicts between Initiated Bill 2015, chapter 3 as 
amended by this Act and relevant provisions of the Maine Revised Statutes. 
The 
evaluation must include an estimate of the costs associated with the implementation of 
ranked-choice voting. No later than January 2, 2019, the Secretary of State shall submit a 
report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over election 
matters, including recommended legislation, for the administration of ranked-choice 
voting for the elections as described in this section. The joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over election matters is authorized to submit legislation 
based on the report described in this section to the First Regular Session of the 129th 
Legislatme.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment removes the requirement in the bill that the Constitution of Maine 
be amended before ranked-choice voting takes effect for the election of Governor, State 
Senator and State Representative. Instead, this amendment changes the definition of 
"elections determined by ranked-choice voting" to exclude the election of Governor, State 
Senator and State Representative. 
The ranked-choice voting method would still be 
applied to primary nomination elections for these offices. The amendment delays the 
implementation of ranlced-choice voting for applicable offices until elections held after 
December 1, 2019. The amendment requires the Secretary of State to submit a report on 
the implementation of ranked-choice voting to the joint standing committee of the 
Legislature having jurisdiction over election matters no later than January 2, 2019. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 10/18/ 17 ft.7ac 
128th MAINE LEGISLA.TURE 
LD 1646 
LR 2379(04) 
An Act To Bring Maine's Ranked-choice Voting Law into Constitutional Compliance 
Fiscal Note for BUI as Amended by Committee Amendment G, {/I -.)I:,~ 
Committee: Veterans and Legal Affairs 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Unbudgeted savings on delay - General Fund 
Unbudgeted savings on delay - Highway Fund 
Costs related to ranked-choice voting were estimated in the fiscal note for LD 1557 of the I 27th Legislature, which 
was introduced as Initiated Bill 2 in response to a successful citizen initiated petition drive. As LD 1557 was 
indefinitely postponed, there was no opportunity to put funding for the Secretary of State (SOS) or the Department of 
Public Safety (DPS) into that bill. Subsequent approval by the voters in November of 2016 meant any funding would 
have to wait for implementing legislation. Delaying implementation of ranked-choice voting until elections held after 
December 1, 2019 will eliminate any funding that would have been required by the SOS and the DPS in the current 
biennium. As no funding has ever been budgeted, no savings will be booked on delay. 
Additional costs to the Department of Secretary of State associated with conducting an evaluation and recommending 
legislation for the administration of ranked-choice voting can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. Any 
appropriations and allocations associated with implementing ranked-choice voting would need to be included within 
that subsequent legislation.