Budget & Taxes (Elections)

LD 656 modifies Maine's ranked-choice voting rules to reduce election costs by ending the vote count earlier in certain scenarios. The bill states that if only two or fewer candidates remain in a race during the ranked-choice process, the candidate with a majority of votes in that round is immediately declared the winner - eliminating unnecessary additional counting rounds. This change applies to all Maine elections using ranked-choice voting, including state and local races, and aims to save taxpayer money by streamlining the tabulation process. It does not alter the core ranked-choice voting system but adjusts when the count concludes based on the number of remaining candidates.