The Short Answer: No, but It’s Complicated
The simple answer is no, a majority is not strictly required in the first round of counting. However, the entire system is designed to eventually produce a winner who has majority support. This sounds like a contradiction, but it’s the core of Maine's unique electoral process for federal races: Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV). This system, also known as 'instant-runoff voting,' only comes into play when there are three or more candidates in a race for President, the U.S. Senate, or the U.S. House of Representatives. If a candidate secures more than 50% of the first-choice votes right away, the election is over, just like a traditional race. But if no one hits that magic number, the counting continues.
How Ranked-Choice Voting Actually Works
Instead of picking just one candidate, voters
in Maine can rank them in order of preference: first choice, second choice, third choice, and so on. If no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes, the counting goes to a second round. The candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated. Then, the ballots that ranked the eliminated candidate first are re-examined. Those votes don't just disappear; they are redistributed to each voter’s second-choice candidate. This process repeats, with the last-place candidate being eliminated in each round and their votes being reallocated, until only two candidates are left. At that point, one will have a mathematical majority, and they are declared the winner. It’s a runoff election that happens instantly, without the need for voters to return to the polls weeks later.
Why Maine Adopted This System
Maine has a long, colorful history of independent and third-party candidates who are popular enough to make an impact but not always win. This often resulted in gubernatorial races being won with well under 50% of the vote. For example, a governor was elected in 2010 with just 38% of the vote. Frustration grew over winners who a large majority of voters had not supported. Proponents of RCV argued it would ensure that eventual winners have broader support and would discourage intensely negative campaigning, as candidates would also be competing for second- and third-choice votes from their rivals' supporters. After a citizen-led ballot initiative in 2016 and years of legal and political battles, the system was officially adopted for federal elections starting in 2018.
A Tale of Two Election Systems
One of the most confusing parts for many is that this system doesn't apply to all of Maine’s elections. A 2017 advisory opinion from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court found that RCV conflicted with the state's constitution for general elections for governor and the state legislature. The constitution specifies that those races are to be decided by a 'plurality'—whoever gets the most votes, even if it’s not a majority. Because federal elections are governed by different laws, RCV was allowed to stand for those races. As a result, Maine voters find themselves using two different voting systems on the same ballot: ranked-choice for president and Congress, but traditional plurality voting for state offices in general elections.
