PORTLAND, Maine: For the first time in U.S. history, voters will use ranked choice voting to determine their pick for president of the United States.
Maine’s use of ranked voting comes as Alaska and Massachusetts voters consider statewide votes to adopt the voting method. In Maine, it applies to this year’s presidential and U.S. Senate races.
The method works like this: Voters can rank the candidates on their ballot in order of preference. If no candidate breaks 50% of the popular vote, the bottom finisher is eliminated, and voters second choices come into play. The tabulations continue until a candidate achieves a majority of the total votes.
Ranked voting arrives on Maines presidential ballots in a year when three of the states four electoral votes could be up for grabs.
The state is one of only two that apportions electoral votes one each by congressional district, of which…