State election officials began the multi-day process Tuesday of determining whether Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden or Republican Austin Theriault won the ranked-choice election in Maine's 2nd Congressional District.
This is the third ranked-choice runoff in the past four elections in Maine's 2nd District, which has come to be regarded as a key swing seat by both national parties as they battle for control of the House. But the ranked-choice runoff, along with an anticipated hand recount, means the 2nd District results may not be known for more than a week
"One of the things that we know is ranked-choice voting tabulations and recounts provide more work for the Secretary of State's office, but we like it because it verifies the vote and it demonstrates to voters the integrity of our processes," Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said just before officially beginning the lengthy runoff process. "So we think we are going to have a lot of opportunity to do that. And let's get started."
More than 400,000 ballots were cast last week across Maine's 2nd District, which encompasses much of the state. The margin between Golden and Theriault is roughly 0.5 percent.
Law enforcement officers had retrieved all of the ballot materials from across the district last week and transported them to Augusta. On Tuesday, staff in Bellows' office began unlocking ballot boxes from each municipality. Paper ballots are then fed into a high-speed tabulator and while results are uploaded from thumb drives provided by towns that use ballot-scanning devices at polling locations.
It typically takes several days to scan and load all voting results into the database before the actual ranked-choice tabulation can be run.
Golden, a 42-year-old moderate Democrat from Lewiston, won the previous two runoffs and looks poised to prevail again this year, although the current election has introduced a new wrinkle into Maine's still relatively new ranked-choice system.
Initial results show Golden leading Theriault — a 30-year-old state lawmaker from Fort Kent and former NASCAR driver — by more than 2,100 votes. A declared write-in candidate, Diana Merenda of Surry, received just 420 votes total. But more than 12,000 voters either didn't mark anyone as their first-choice candidate on the ranked-choice ballot or wrote the name of another person. And it's those ballots that will decide the election.
Bellows said the law requires a ranked-choice runoff because Golden did not win more than 50% of the total ballots cast during last week's election.
During the ranked-choice tabulation, the computer software will look for any second-choice votes on ballots whose voters supported Merenda or who left the first-choice oval empty. Any second-choice preferences on those ballots will be allocated to either Golden or Theriault. Any ballots where voters did not indicate a first- or second-choice candidate in the 2nd District race will be designated as "exhausted" and eliminated.
The ranked-choice tabulation process takes place in public inside a secure location within the Maine Department of Public Safety headquarters at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta. The proceedings are also being livestreamed on the Secretary of State's YouTube page. Both campaigns also have attorneys present who can inspect the results from each town and ask questions about any irregularities.
Golden's campaign has argued that the Democrat should be declared the victor because he won more than 50% of the first-choice votes, although the campaign is not actively challenging the ranked-choice tabulation.
"We urge all parties involved to work through the process laid out in the current rules as quickly as possible," the Golden campaign said in a statement late last week. "We fully expect State Rep. Theriault to again request a recount after the ranked-choice run-off. So let’s get to the recount and resolve this election for the voters once and for all. We will participate in any Secretary of State process to determine election results."
Theriault's campaign, meanwhile, has already asked for a recount — which would happen after the ranked-choice tabulation — based on what they are say are discrepancies and inconsistencies in voting results compared to past elections.
"We appreciate the support from and patience of so many Mainers during this ongoing process," Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick said in a statement on Tuesday after the conclusion of the first day of the tabulation process. "With this being the closest race in modern Maine history, we look forward to ensuring the voice of Mainers are heard through the RCV process and expected recount."
Maine's 2nd District is one more than a dozen House races nationwide that have yet to be called by The Associated Press one week after polls closed. As of Tuesday evening, Republicans had won 214 seats — putting them within four seats of the clinching a majority — while Democrats had won 205 seats, according to the AP.
