Gov. Janet Mills said Friday she would delay action on a bill passed by Maine lawmakers last month to expand ranked-choice voting to presidential elections and allow it to go into law in January, allowing its use in the 2020 general elections but not next year’s primaries.
On Friday, she said in a news release she would hold it until the Legislature returns to Augusta in January and allow it to pass then without her signature. That would push the law’s effective date past the March 3 presidential primaries.
That move would allow it in next year’s presidential general elections and in presidential primaries past 2022. The Democratic National Committee is requiring candidates in its presidential primaries to get at least 15 percent of votes in states to qualify for a share of a pool of nominating delegates.
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