LEEDS, ME — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Republican front-runner for Governor Bobby Charles today slammed Augusta Democrats for rushing through legislation to expand ranked-choice voting to all statewide elections, including the governor, just months before voters head to the polls.
The bill, passed by the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, would overhaul Maine’s election system despite a prior unanimous Maine Supreme Court ruling finding ranked-choice voting unconstitutional in certain statewide races.
“Changing the rules in the middle of an election cycle is not democracy, it’s desperation,” Charles said. “Augusta Democrats see the writing on the wall. Crime is rising. Costs are crushing families. Their policies are failing. So now they want to rewrite the election rules to protect their power.”
Charles pointed to the 2017 Maine Supreme Court advisory opinion that found ranked-choice voting conflicts with the Maine Constitution’s requirement that certain statewide races be decided by plurality.
“If you believe in the Constitution, you don’t ignore it when it becomes inconvenient,” Charles said. “You don’t jam through sweeping changes months before an election and hope the courts sort it out later.”
Charles also raised serious concerns about election administration under Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who would be responsible for implementing any expansion of ranked-choice voting.
“Maine voters deserve confidence in their elections,” Charles said. “Secretary Bellows has struggled to maintain basic ballot integrity and chain-of-custody standards. Now Democrats want to hand her an even more complicated statewide ranked-choice system for governor? That’s reckless.”
Charles reiterated his support for voter ID and stronger election safeguards.
“Democrats oppose voter ID. They resist common-sense election security measures supported by the overwhelming majority of Mainers. And now they want to impose a complex voting scheme statewide just months before ballots are cast,” Charles said. “Maine should be making it easier to verify votes, not harder for voters to understand how their vote is counted.”
Charles said the issue is bigger than ranked-choice voting itself.
“This is about trust,” he said. “Elections must be transparent, constitutional, and fair to every candidate and every voter. You don’t change the system midstream because you’re afraid of losing.”
“As Governor, I will fight for election integrity, voter ID, constitutional order, and full transparency. Maine elections belong to Maine voters, not to political insiders in Augusta.”
