Portland uses ranked-choice voting to elect two city council members

PORTLAND (WGME) — Portland used ranked-choice voting to elect two city leaders Wednesday morning.

None of the candidates for City Council District 2 or the City Council overall received 50 percent plus 1 vote on Election Day.

So the city launched ranked choice voting, essentially weeding out voters’ lower choices.

After five rounds of counting, Wesley Pelletier won City Council District 2.

After five rounds, Benjamin Grant won the city council overall.

“I’ve been involved in Maine politics for a long time, so I was chairman of the Democratic Party when it was implemented at the state level, so I’ve seen different versions of this process,” Grant said.

More than 33,000 voters voted for this seat.

The city says voter turnout in Portland was nearly 73 percent.