Was John Balentine’s recent column (“Here’s Something: Poliquin right to fight ranked-choice result”) an audition for employment by Rep. Bruce Poliquin? As a registered 2nd Congressional District voter, I can assure him that I saw no indication ranked-choice voting was “chaotic” and “confusing.” Even Balentine, despite affirming Poliquin’s condemnation of RCV, said “I wouldn’t say the new system is chaotic.” Perhaps he himself is confused.

While not a supporter of RCV, I do like that it helped unseat Poliquin, an exploiter of loopholes in the tree growth tax law, and a representative whose lugubriously fake sincerity and naked self-interest felt simply untrustworthy. Golden seems a straighter shooter.

Balentine’s argument RCV “should not require me to pick someone … I do not support” is false. He only voted his favorite in the Senate race. I voted only for Golden in the Congressional race. We were not forced to add anyone else, but we could if we wanted to. His argument it “is not right” that moderate voters, “who are less dogmatic and choose the person not the party,” have two or more choices, seems specious also. Given the vicious polarization of our democracy in Maine and the country, if RCV gives moderate voters more power, that sounds great to me.

Balentine’s ideas are so over the edge, even for him, that I have begun to ask myself if he was speaking tongue-in-cheek, and I just got suckered into disagreeing with him.

Michael Fasulo
Linneus/South Portland