Maine Democrats threaten to switch to winner-take-all delegate system

(AUGUSTA, Maine) — Democratic leaders in Maine are threatening to eliminate the state’s split-vote system for allocating Electoral College delegates if Nebraska Republicans move forward with their plan to do the same.

The two states are the only ones in the country to allocate some delegates proportionally by congressional district, which in 2020 allowed President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to each secure one delegate in states that were otherwise won by the other – Biden in Nebraska and Trump in Maine.

But in early April, Trump, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and other prominent Republicans endorsed a legislative measure that would change Nebraska’s allocation of Electoral College votes to a Trump-favorable, winner-take-all system. The state currently awards one vote for each of the state’s three congressional districts and then two for the overall winner of the state.

Now, Democratic leaders in Maine, the only other state in the nation that awards electoral votes by congressional district, are indicating they’d make a similar change — effectively negating any advantage Trump would gain under the proposed reform in Nebraska.

“If Nebraska’s Republican Governor and Republican-controlled Legislature were to change their electoral system this late in the cycle in order to unfairly award Donald Trump an additional electoral vote, I think the Maine Legislature would be compelled to act in order to restore fairness to our country’s electoral system,” House Majority Leader Maureen Terry, a Democrat, said in a statement on Friday. “It is my hope and the hope of my colleagues in Maine that the Nebraska Republican Party decides not to make this desperate and ill-fated attempt to sway the 2024 election.”

Earlier this month, Nebraska Republicans failed to whip the necessary 33 votes to break a filibuster in its unicameral Senate despite a nationwide pressure campaign from far-right conservative radio host and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. As a result, the proposal failed to advance before the end of the legislative session, effectively killing the bill.

But last week, Pillen — who has already signaled he will call a special legislative session on property tax reform — said in a speech that he would not hesitate to call a special session for “other unfinished business,” which he said included reforming Nebraska to a winner-take-all system, with the key caveat that he would only do so if legislators had the votes.

So far, no special session has been officially called.