Current:Home > StocksRanked voting tabulation in pivotal Maine congressional race to begin Tuesday -Wealthify
Ranked voting tabulation in pivotal Maine congressional race to begin Tuesday
View
Date:2025-04-12 22:19:14
Follow AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
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.
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.
veryGood! (4)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Meet Kylie Cantrall, the teen TikTok star ruling Disney's 'Descendants'
- Tour helicopter crash off Hawaiian island leaves 1 dead and 2 missing
- Police chief resigns after theft of his vehicle, shootout in Maine town
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Vermont floods raise concerns about future of state’s hundreds of ageing dams
- A Taiwan-based Buddhist charity attempts to take the founding nun’s message of compassion global
- Appeals court makes it harder to disqualify absentee ballots in battleground Wisconsin
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- First victim of Tulsa Race Massacre identified through DNA as WWI veteran
Ranking
- What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
- Channing Tatum Reveals the Sweet Treat Pal Taylor Swift Made for Him
- Diana Taurasi will have 2 courts named after her at Phoenix Mercury’s new practice facility
- Chicago exhibition center modifying windows to prevent bird strikes after massive kill last year
- Friday the 13th luck? 13 past Mega Millions jackpot wins in December. See top 10 lottery prizes
- One woman escaped a ‘dungeon’ beneath a Missouri home, another was killed. Here’s a look at the case
- Lakers vs. Rockets live updates: Watch Bronny James in summer league game today
- Inside Billionaire Heir Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant's Wedding of the Year in India
Recommendation
Sam Taylor
US Navy pilots come home after months of shooting down Houthi missiles and drones
Just a Category 1 hurricane? Don’t be fooled by a number — It could be more devastating than a Cat 5
Why We're All Just a Bit Envious of Serena Williams' Marriage to Alexis Ohanian
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Taylor Swift, Caitlin Clark and More Celebs React to Brittany and Patrick Mahomes’ Pregnancy Announcement
Judge throws out Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy case, says he flouted process with lack of transparency
Archaeologists unearth 4,000-year-old temple and theater in Peru