GOP concerned, Golden patient as 2nd District votes are counted
LEWISTON — The race for Maine’s 2nd congressional district seat is coming down to its final hours, with the GOP already raising several concerns about the process and Democratic contender Jared Golden of Lewiston taking a wait-and-see stance.
It has been nearly a week since polls closed, and Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is now overseeing the counting of ballots in the exceedingly tight 2nd District race, which will decide whether Golden goes to Congress or the seat is retained by incumbent two-term U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Oakland.
It’s possible that at least an unofficial count may be released later today. It’s allowed under the rules established for counting the more than 270,000 ballots cast in the ranked-choice voting election last week.
Final results are expected by Wednesday that would include every ballot in every town in the sprawling district.
Poliquin appears to have locked down the initial round of voting by about 1,900 votes. Nobody has a firm number yet because some little towns never reported any figures. Regardless, with each of the two leading candidates shy of receiving 50 percent of the vote — both are hovering around 46 percent — the state’s ranked-choice law takes over.
Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/gop-concerned-golden-patient-as-2nd-district-votes-are-counted/
