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My State Adopted Ranked-Choice Voting. It Was a Mistake.
Matthew Gagnon /

My State Adopted Ranked-Choice Voting. It Was a Mistake.

The voting system creates confusion and mistrust.
Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch.
Illustration by Noah Hickey/The Dispatch.
In our polarized era, there are fewer and fewer spaces where people who disagree can do so productively and in good faith. The Dispatch’s Debate Series aims to be an outlier: a regular feature where two writers with opposing views can hash out some of the thorniest political and cultural issues roiling the national conversation. If you have an idea for a future topic, please let us know at debates@thedispatch.com.

Would you like to make elections more civil? Are you tired of “spoiler” candidates? Do you think the winners of elections should be supported by the majority of citizens? If so, great news: Ranked-choice voting is here to fix our electoral system!

At least, that’s the story pitched to you by its proponents.

Matthew Gagnon is the chief executive officer of the Maine Policy Institute, a free-market policy think tank based in Portland, Maine. Matt and his wife have five children and live in Yarmouth, Maine.

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