Referendum Question 5, proposing a ranked choice voting procedure, is a Band-Aid on cancer. It does nothing to eliminate closed primaries, partisan control of both houses of legislatures where party loyalty assures legislative power, the gerrymandering of districts, or the bundling of anonymous campaign contributions from outside the state. The only thing that will bring civility back to political process is voters rejecting negative, misleading attack ads and demanding candidates to honestly state what they will do. Ranked choice voting sounds good, but it is a placebo and ignores more serious problems.

Robert Libby
Chebeague Island 


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