The ranked choice count to determine if U.S. Rep. Jared Golden or Bruce Poliquin is the winner of the U.S. House seat in the state’s 2nd Congressional District is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 15.
Ranked choice voting is required under Maine law if no candidate receives at least 50% of first choice votes on election day. According to the Bangor Daily News, with 91.65% of results received as of Thursday morning, Golden, a Democrat, had 48.61% of the vote and Poliquin, a member of the GOP, 44.61%. Independent Tiffany Bond garnered 6.78% of votes cast. Â
The process will unfold at 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta, in a building leased by the Maine State Police. Ballot materials will be collected by state law enforcement officers. The retrieval schedule will not be made public due to security reasons, according to Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. The proceeds are open to the public and the tabulation will also be livestreamed on the Secretary of State’s Facebook page.Â
In ranked choice voting rules, choices marked by voters in descending order will be assigned to the candidates in succession. When only two candidates remain, the one with the most votes in that round is the winner.  A full explanation of the process is available here.Â
Official results will be available and posted 20 days after the election as Excel files on the Election Results page.
Congressional District 2 comprises all municipalities and unorganized territories in Androscoggin, Aroostook, Franklin, Hancock, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Somerset, Waldo and Washington Counties. It also includes Albion, Belgrade, Benton, Clinton, Fayette, Gardiner, Litchfield, Monmouth, Mount Vernon, Oakland, Randolph, Rome, Sidney, Unity Township, Vienna, Wayne and West Gardiner in Kennebec County. At over 27,000 square miles, it is the largest Congressional district east of the Mississippi River.
