Wall Street Journal quotes Brewer in article on ranked-choice voting
Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal article, “Maine puts new voting system to the test.” Maine voters will be able to choose more than one candidate in crowded primaries, including contests for the governor’s race, according to the article. Voters in 2016 approved the new system that allows them to pick candidates in order of preference, elevating a system known as ranked-choice voting from use in several U.S. cities, the article states. Maine voters adopted the system by ballot measure after years of failed bills. The election of Gov. Paul LePage, a combative Republican who won two terms without majority support, helped spur the change, political observers said. “That irritated some people, for sure,” Brewer said.