PORTLAND, Maine (AP) A federal judge says he’ll rule by the middle of next week on whether the Republican Party can be exempted from ranked-choice voting in its primary next month.
A lawyer for the state predicted “chaos” if there are two different election systems for Republicans and Democrats on June 12. But an attorney for the GOP rejected that claim, and said the state’s imposition of ranked-choice voting violates the party’s rights.
The GOP wants the winner to simply have the most votes. Ranked choice voting aims for a majority through rankings and multiple rounds of voting.
U.S. District Judge Jon Levy said he’ll rule by next Wednesday.
Election officials proceeding with the new voting system, and it’ll be used in the Democratic primaries regardless of the outcome of the lawsuit.
