WE NEED LETTERS TO EDITOR AND OP-EDS RIGHT NOW SUPPORTING RANKED CHOICE VOTING. PLEASE HELP.

[LBM20]

Thanks for all you have done to help secure the signatures for the People's Veto to restore Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). It was a great effort. Over 80,000 signatures, many collected in out there in sub zero temperatures, were submitted, 72,000 of which were already certified by local election officials. This far surpasses the 61,000 required. They were submitted on Feb. 2nd and are being verified by the Sec. of State's office now. It is highly unlikely that there will be a problem since so many more were collected than actually needed.

Now what we need to do is make sure that RCV is properly implemented, PER THE LAW, for the June primaries and that we win the June primary vote to restore RCV PERMANENTLY.

So it is GAME ON, and the forces against us on this issue are out there with OpEds and a narrative saying that using RCV for the June primaries will be "chaos." They are even saying it will be a "nightmare." This is their narrative, and they are very good at using scare tactics to try to frighten people away from RCV. And if we don't take control of the narrative and use effective messaging, they may well win.

I have now sent and have had published a number of letters to the editor in papers across the state supporting RCV and the People's Veto. I hope you will please join me.

You can go online to the Bangor Daily News, Kennebec Journal, Portland Press Herald, Mount Desert Islander, Ellsworth American, and others easily to submit Letters to the Editor and OpEds online.

Here are suggested talking points:

* Supporting this People's Veto to restore Ranked Choice Voting will send a clear message to Augusta that we are putting the brakes on them and stopping the very bad trend of them blocking ALL of our referendums. (THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE THING PEOPLE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE WERE GATHERING SIGNATURES. THEY ARE FED UP WITH AUGUSTA BLOCKING NOT JUST RCV, BUT ALL OF THE REFERENDUMS. SOME IN AUGUSTA ARE NOW EVEN TRYING TO BLOCK MEDICAID EXPANSION WHICH PASSED WITH 59% OF THE VOTE.)

* RCV is completely constitutional for the primaries and general elections for the federal races and this is what the People's Veto restores.

* RCV is simple. It is used in Portland for their mayoral elections with no problem at all and in a number of other U.S. cities and countries around the world.

* The only "chaos" will be if a major party candidate for governor or congress wins with just around 20% of the vote which is very likely unless we have RCV for the primaries.

* The Sec. of State has had since November 2016 to prepare to implement RCV for the primaries, and his office has plenty of time to do this and he has said repeatedly that he can do it.

* RCV empowers voters with more voice and more choice.

* RCV ends the spoiler effect vote splitting and restores majority rule.

Thanks very much. I hope you can help. Our very democracy in Maine depends on it. LePage and many in his camp are waging ware on the entire referendum process. THEY MUST BE STOPPED. Passing the People's Veto to Restore Ranked Choice Voting in June is the ONE chance we have to send a very clear message to them that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and that we are not going to allow them to attack our constitutional right to direct democracy.

[MichMan]

1. Wouldn't that make the lines longer ?

I understand the concept, but wouldn't it result in longer lines as people would be in the voting booth agonizing on how they were going to rank multiple candidates ?

[LBM20]

2. This should not be much of a concern and here is why:

Last edited Fri Feb 23, 2018, 11:58 AM - Edit history (2)

* Primary elections, where there will always be the most candidates on the ballot, already traditionally have lower turnout than general elections. So wait times are already somewhat shorter for the primaries. So this should not be too much of an issue even with some increase in primary election turnout.

* This is a tried and true voting method. It was used in 2011 and 2015 for mayor in Portland, our largest city. In 2011 there were 15 candidates for mayor on the ballot. It all went smoothly. It has been used for many decades in numerous cities and entire countries in the US and around the world very easily, smoothly, and popularly.

* More and more people are doing early voting. This reduces the lines on election day. Anyone can vote early in person or early absentee by mail, as I do, in the comfort their own homes. It is SO easy to sign up for an absentee mail-in ballot. It takes about one minute online.

* Most people will have researched the candidates and will know just how they are going to vote. Voters are smart and savvy. In fact, a great benefit of this is that people will be even more inclined to do their research and decide just how they are going to vote. That makes for more informed voters and is a very good thing.

* Research shows that Ranked Choice Voting serves to increase voter participation which is also a very good thing. It makes people more interested and engaged in their elections. This is very good for democracy.

* A little more time in exchange for more democracy, better and fairer elections that result in winners who much better reflect the actual will of the voters, more power, voice, and choice in the hands of the voters, and better and less rancorous campaigns is one heck of a good deal.


*** There have been various questions raised about RCV but it is absolutely nothing to fear or worry about. It is simply Instant Runoff Voting and has been used for many decades in many places. Cambridge, MA has used it since 1941. Ireland uses it nationwide for their elections, as do other nations. It works just great. ANY change takes some getting used to. But people will get used to it and will find they like it. Remember the school laptop computer program? We were the first in the nation to do it on a statewide basis. People said it would be doom and gloom. People said it would be "chaotic" and "cumbersome" and "unwieldy" and that all these "nightmare" scenarios like laptops being sold, destroyed, and pawned would be happening. Guess what, all that doom and gloom did not happen and the program has been successful and even expanded. And so it will be with this MUCH needed election reform.

[Soxfan58]

3. Why should I even bother

Nothing we pass ever come into effect.

[LBM20]

4. Because giving up is exactly what they want us to do, and look what we just proved instead.

Giving up is exactly what they wanted us to do on Ranked Choice Voting. And guess what? We just got the signatures for the People's Veto. We did it with over 1000 volunteers. We did it by mobilizing all over the state just 15 hours before the polls opened last November to get petitions to 400 polling places. We did it standing in sub-zero temperatures to collect signatures. It was monumental and should give anyone tremendous inspiration. And this work must not be in vain. We must prevail in June and smash down the rotten forces trying to undermine our referendums.

So we just proved that if people stand up and fight, we can win. For now our effort has stopped the rotten amendment they tried to sneak in last October to effectively kill Ranked Choice Voting. We said NO. We stopped them!

It is also mainly the Republicans and LePage attacking the referendums. Do we just let them win? No! We pass the People's Veto to Restore Ranked Choice Voting instead in June, and then we vote out as many Republicans as we can in November.

I know it is easy to get discouraged. But that is exactly what they want. Get discouraged and disengage and they have won. They have beaten you. Or, do what so many of us are doing instead and channel that frustration into an even greater resolve to defeat THEM and defeat them BIGTIME.

I urge you to write a letter to the editor saying how rotten it is that some legislators in Augusta have been attacking our referendums and that the people are not going to stand for it. Urge people to vote for the People's Veto to Restore Ranked Choice Voting. And if you are a registered Democrat, I urge you to go to your caucus on March 4th and take some people with you.

As Barack Obama says, "Don't get mad, VOTE." As Bernie Sanders says, "It is very easy to get discouraged and give up on the political process. What we need to do is just the opposite. We need you involved in the political process because when many people come together they make a difference and can take their government back and make it work for ALL the people."

We are making it happen, but we have got to put it over the finish line. We can't disengage. In fact, we need to engage harder than ever. Please help us win the argument, win this People's Veto vote in June, defeat the forces (mainly the right wing) in Maine trying to take away our referendums, and show them that we will not retreat, we will not be silenced, we will not be intimidated, we will not give up, we will not go away, we will fight, and we will win. Thanks.