MATTHEW DUNLAP

Maine's use of ranked voting comes as Alaska and Massachusetts voters consider statewide votes to adopt the voting method. Ranked voting arrives on Maine’s presidential ballots in a year when three of the state’s four electoral votes could be up for grabs. ___HOW WE GOT HEREVoters in the state approved the adoption of ranked voting in a 2016 referendum drive. Opponents, including the Maine Republican Party, have said ranked choice voting is too confusing and violates the principle of one person, one vote. They sued unsuccessfully to try to stop the state from using ranked choice voting for president this year.

This time it's the battle over President Donald Trumps effort to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. If the Senate's Supreme Court vote occurs before Election Day, Collins’ position will be magnified as an issue in her race. Democrats hope the nomination fight will remind liberal voters of Collins’ support for Trump's controversial last Supreme Court pick, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. It might also focus progressives on how abortion rights and President Barack Obama's health care law could be threatened by a conservative-dominated Supreme Court. “Our state and our country need problem solvers,” said Michael Thibodeau, a Republican and former state Senate president.