AUGUSTA, Maine (WGAN) By a thin margin, Democrat Jared Golden is the winner of the race in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District.
The final ranked choice tabulation, which was run through a computer in the Secretary of State’s office on Thursday afternoon, showed Golden ahead at 50.53% of the vote, with Republican Bruce Poliquin at 49.47%. The two were separated by about 2,900 votes.
The result came hours after a federal judge denied a motion filed by Poliquin and two voters to stop the ranked choice tabulation process. Poliquin claims that ranked choice voting violates the U.S. Constitution. He says that Representatives are to be elected by a plurality vote, not a majority.
Poliquin’s camp released the following statement minutes after the final result was declared:
“It is now officially clear I won the constitutional “one-person, one-vote” first choice election on Election Day that has been used in Maine for more than one hundred years. We will proceed with our constitutional concerns about the rank vote algorithm.”
Poliquin had a lead over Golden on election night.
Ranked choice voting came into play in the race because neither Poliquin nor Golden were able to secure a majority vote, or over 50%, which is required under the ranked choice system.
