The U.S. Supreme Court has turned down a last-ditch effort by the Maine Republican Party to stop ranked-choice voting from being used for the first time in the state’s presidential contest.
Justice Stephen Breyer on Tuesday rejected the request for the high court to intervene after the GOP sought to delay ranked voting in this November’s presidential election until state voters had the final say through a referendum.
The Maine GOP’s latest appeal was filed after the first votes already had been cast via absentee ballot.
The voting system allows all candidates to be ranked on the ballot. It uses extra voting rounds, last-place candidate eliminations, and the reallocation of votes to ensure a majority winner.