Ranked voting tabulation in pivotal Maine congressional race to begin Tuesday

By: The Associated Press Posted: 11:24 AM CST Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A ranked-choice voting tabulation aimed at determining the winner of a key congressional race in Maine will start on Tuesday with scanning of ballots into a computer at a centralized location, with a goal of having results by week's end, the state's top election official said Saturday.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/11/2024 (644 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A ranked-choice voting tabulation aimed at determining the winner of a key congressional race in Maine will start on Tuesday with scanning of ballots into a computer at a centralized location, with a goal of having results by week’s end, the state’s top election official said Saturday.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden already said he won the election in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District but the secretary of state said neither Golden nor Republican Austin Theriault surpassed 50% of first-place votes on Election Day, necessitating the shipment of ballots to the state capital for an additional voting round.

Under Maine’s ranked choice voting, voters rank candidates in order of preference on ballots. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes, then the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated to establish a majority winner.

FILE - State Rep. Austin Theriault, R-Fort Kent, campaigns for Maine's 2nd Congressional District, June 5, 2024, in Farmington, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

Election officials intend to begin scanning ballots into a computer Tuesday afternoon with a goal of running the tabulation by week’s end, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Saturday. After ranked voting is concluded, state election officials will begin a formal recount requested by Theriault based on the razor-thin margin.

As it stands, both candidates were just below 49%, with Golden holding a slight edge of about 2,000 votes, according to figures released by the secretary of state.

Golden and Theriault were the only candidates on the ballot, but Diana Merenda of Surry, who ran an organized write-in candidacy, received several hundred votes. The second choices of any voters who left their first choice blank also will be counted. Other write-in candidates will be treated as blanks.

The race is among a handful of pivotal races without a declared winner, with control of the U.S. House at stake. The thin margin came in an election in which Republican Donald Trump won the 2nd District, allowing him to collect one of Maine’s four electoral votes. Maine is one of two states that split electoral votes.