A definite majority
According to former presidential nominee and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain, “Instant-runoff voting will lead to good government because voters will elect leaders who have the support of a majority. Elected leaders will be more likely to listen to all, and cities will be able to enjoy big tax savings and keep majority rule.”
McCain is right, and we will have a great opportunity to bring this positive nonpartisan reform to Maine statewide by referendum next year.
Also known as ranked-choice voting, it’s a very easy process for multi-candidate races where voters simply mark their ballots by order of preference, if they wish. If a candidate gets a majority on the first count, it’s over. If not, lowest-receiving candidates are eliminated with their votes going to the next choice until one candidate scores a majority. Simple.
Ranked-choice voting expands democracy because winners will have a definite majority. It eliminates spoilers, and campaigns will be more civil because candidates will have to message to a broader voter base. Ranked-choice voting is used in elections in other nations, such as Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and India. It is used in the U.S. in cities such as San Francisco, Oakland and Minneapolis. And it is already used in Portland to elect its mayor.
Ron Bilancia
Brewer
A family wage?
Minimum wage of $10.10? Why not make it $20.20? Either one will make no difference. All who support this need to study economics, not liberal arts. The minimum wage is not intended to support a family. If anyone thinks so, they have more issues than their paychecks.
Robert Polo
Carmel
Bludgeon of power
Four decades ago, a directive from Washington ordered a government attorney to use his prosecutorial powers to destroy the careers, reputations and lives of individuals whose only crime had been to voice opposition to the policies of the Nixon administration.
That attorney was my father. Over the years, he had refused many lucrative offers of private-sector employment because he was committed to public service.
Rather than allow his authority to be manipulated as a tool for political and personal retribution, he resigned. He followed the example of his personal hero, Sir Thomas More, the English lawyer who gave up his position, and ultimately his life, rather than violate the law and his conscience to obey the commands of King Henry VIII. My father understood that when power is wielded as a bludgeon, it smashes not only the individuals against whom it is aimed, but also a society’s legal and moral foundation.
Whether one supports or rejects the political views and behavior of Maine’s governor, and whether one admires or abhors his opponents, persons of conscience cannot remain passive when a political leader uses his power to silence — and attempt to destroy — those who oppose him.
I strongly urge the board of directors of Good Will-Hinckley to resist the governor’s threats and restore their offer of employment to Mark Eves. I further urge the Harold Alfond Foundation, instead of canceling support for Good Will-Hinckley, to increase it by the amount the governor threatened to withdraw. I implore all in Maine government to stand with conscience and courage against the use of political power for personal vengeance.
Mary Bird
Orono
Against governing
Howard Cutler claims in his July 8 BDN letter to the editor that the governor was right that House Speaker Mark Eves should have lost his job at Good Will-Hinckley because he did not support charter schools.
By Cutler’s reasoning, Gov. Paul LePage should lose his job because he has never supported governing or government; not now, not ever. Regardless, LePage questionably maintains his position as governor.
John Krauss
Verona Island