Dear Editor:

Maine voters have a historic opportunity in June — we will be the first voters in any state to rank our preferences for candidates in a state primary, thanks to the efforts of the multi-partisan Committee for Ranked Choice Voting in Maine. Democrats will have seven candidates while Republicans will have four. You can rank all the gubernatorial candidates in your party from number one to number seven (or four), or choose to rank just your top candidates. In other words, you only need to rank the candidates you would like to see win, starting with your number one choice. The great news is that ranked choice voting will ensure we elect the candidates who are preferred by the majority of voters in each party.

If you think you might like to vote for one of the seven progressive Democratic candidates for governor, you have a chance to see and hear from those candidates right here in Lincoln County on Saturday, May 12 at 2 p.m. at a forum at Great Salt Bay Community School, Main Street, in Damariscotta, sponsored by Lincoln County Indivisible and Indivisible-Boothbay. These candidates will be describing their ideas for taking Maine forward in a positive direction.

If you’re not currently registered to vote or are not enrolled in either party and you’d like to vote in the primary, you need to go to your town registrar and enroll to vote in either the Democratic or Republican party. Only party enrollees can vote for a party’s candidates in the primary. You can change your registration in person right up to Election Day, but if you do it by mail or through a registration drive, the cut-off is May 22. If, after the forum, you’ve made up your mind about how to rank the candidates, absentee ballots are already available. For more information, visit www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/voterguide.html.

All the Democratic candidates for legislature in Lincoln County are running as Clean Elections candidates, part of the more than 250 Clean Election candidates — Democrats, Republicans, and Green Independents — running for the legislature statewide. Take part by voting in the primary using ranked choice voting, and vote yes on the ranked choice voting referendum question #1.

Barbara Burt

Boothbay Harbor