AUGUSTA – State Sen. Tom Saviello, R-Wilton, told lawmakers Wednesday that his proposal to change Maine’s gubernatorial elections would cost money but the benefits would outweigh the costs.

Saviello is the sole sponsor of a constitutional amendment that would require Maine’s governor be elected by a majority of voters. In the current system, the winner is the candidate who gets the most votes, even if it’s not a majority.

“My personal feeling is that it’s time to say we truly have a majority governor,” Saviello said during a public hearing before the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee.

Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, won the five-way race in November with about 38 percent of the vote, defeating independent candidate Eliot Cutler by less than 10,000 votes.

Democratic Gov. John Baldacci was first elected in 2002 with 47 percent of the vote, and was re-elected four years later with 38 percent.

Independent Gov. Angus King was initially elected in 1994 with about 35 percent of the vote. He won re-election with 58.6 percent.

Saviello said the current administration has nothing to do with his proposal, which he has been considering since King was first elected with a minority of the vote.

“When the governor comes in, he sets a tone and he wants to have something happen,” Saviello said. “I think you have a mandate with 50 plus one, versus 25 or 38 or whatever.”

Although Saviello’s measure proposes a run-off election for the first- and second-place candidates if no one gets a majority vote, he said he is open to other ideas.

Deputy Secretary of State Julie Flynn, who said her office is not taking a position on the proposal, outlined some of the challenges it would create.

In the current election process, the Secretary of State’s Office has as long as 20 days to record the official results, she said. Under Saviello’s proposal, the Legislature would have to meet to schedule a run-off election two weeks after the official tally was determined.

“The only way we can do an election in two weeks is to have hand-counted ballots,” Flynn said. “The cost for the state is about $125,000 to conduct a single-ballot style type of election, even when it’s done all hand count, because of the cost of shipping the ballots to the municipalities.”

No state is doing any instant run-off voting for statewide office, she said.

The only other testimony on the proposal came from Michelle Small of Brunswick, a member of the board of directors of the League of Women Voters of Maine.

Small said her group has no position on Saviello’s proposal, but it would support the idea of a majority vote if it could be achieved through instant run-off voting.

The league does not support traditional run-off elections between the top two candidates, she said.

“Plurality voting, in which the candidate with the most votes wins, can be dysfunctional when more than two candidates run,” Small said. “Instant run-off voting, on the other hand, encourages candidates to reach out to more people, alleviates concerns about the spoiler effect and guarantees the elections of candidates who have majority support.”

For Saviello’s measure to take effect, the Legislature would have to pass it by a two-thirds majority, and Maine voters would have to approve it.

The committee will schedule a work session on the proposal in the coming weeks.

 

MaineToday Media State House Writer Rebekah Metzler can be contacted at 620-7016 or at rmetzler@mainetoday.com

 

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