Ranked Choice Voting upheld- Congressman Elect Jarod Golden election is upheld

National News about voters victory in Maine's Second District and the election of Congressman Elect Jarod Golden in the Ranked Choice Voting process. 

Press release from the League of Women Voters of Maine!

Victory for the voters!

This morning, a federal court judge rejected Bruce Poliquin's legal challenge to ranked choice voting. The decision marks a major victory for Maine's voting system of choice, as well as for the people and states interested in following in Maine's footsteps in implementing a fairer election process.

Below are a selection of statements from the court's ruling (full version here): 

• "Maine's RCV (Ranked Choice Voting) Act reflects the view of a majority of the voting public in Maine, that their interests may be better represented by the candidate who achieves the greatest support among those who cast votes, than by the candidate who is first "past the post" in a plurality election dominated by two major parties." (Page 16)
• "The point is that "one person, one vote" does not stand in opposition to ranked balloting, so long as all electors are treated equally at the ballot." (Page 21)
• "Through RCV, as applied to the Second District house race, majority rights have been advanced, and no minority rights have been burdened unduly, if at all." (Page 24)

Plaintiffs maintain the right to appeal the court's decision; in addition, the manual recount of ranked choice votes, requested by and paid for by Poliquin, will continue. 

There is confidence in the constitutionality of ranked choice voting and that a recount will only affirm the accuracy of the original tally.

Best, 

 
Jill Ward, President, League of Women Voters of Maine
  

Political history in Maine sprawling Second District

Jared Golden makes history with congressional race victory

Congressman elect from Maine's Second District
Jared Golden

By Maxwell Hauptman in Maine's Ellsworth American newspaper

ELLSWORTH, ME — Maine’s 2nd Congressional District now how its own little etching in the history books.

Democrat Jared Golden was declared the victor in the race over Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin following the nation’s first use of ranked choice voting in a congressional election.

In a final tally of votes released by the Maine Secretary of State’s Office, Golden finished with 139,231 votes to Poliquin’s 136,362, giving Golden a slim 53.53 percent majority.

As predicted, Golden ultimately benefited from ranked choice voting far more than Poliquin. A total of 10,232 votes were transferred to Golden from independent candidates Tiffany Bond and William Hoar, while only 4,695 went to Poliquin.

More than 8,000 ballots did not come into play, as they had not designated a second choice.

Poliquin has said he will continue with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ranked choice voting process.

“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 100 years,” said Poliquin in a public statement following the announcement of the results. “We will proceed with our constitutional concerns about the rank vote algorithm.”

Poliquin’s lawsuit, filed Tuesday morning, sought to suspend the ranked choice tabulation process, calling it unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Lance Walker denied that request Thursday morning. In his ruling, however, Walker did leave open the possibility for further legal challenges.

Golden, a Marine Corps veteran and State House representative from Lewiston, is now the first congressman in to be elected under ranked choice voting. 

Golden is also the first person to defeat an incumbent in Maine’s sprawling 2nd Congressional District since 2016.

Jared Golden wins Maine Second District - Democrat beats the incumbent

Report published in the Bangor Daily News

Congressman elect Jared Golden- Democrat from Lewiston Maine

By Michael Shepherd, BDN Staff • November 15, 2018 12:31 pm 

Updated: November 15, 2018

AUGUSTA, Maine — Assistant Maine House Majority Leader Jared Golden defeated U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin in a ranked-choice count in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District that finished on Thursday and is the subject of an uphill challenge in federal court by the Republican incumbent.

The result would be a historic one: As it stands, Golden, a 36-year-old Democrat from Lewiston, is the first person to defeat an incumbent in the largely rural 2nd District’s modern-era configuration as it stands after it went hard in 2016 for President Donald Trump, a Republican.

“Mainers want a new generation of leaders who will fix our dysfunctional political system so that it serves the people first and foremost, and I’m going to do my part to give them what they deserve,” Golden said in a victory speech in Augusta.

Democrats clinched a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in last week’s election, flipping the chamber from Republican control. If Golden’s victory stands, they would likely control at least 230 seats to Republicans’ 199. Five other races were still undecided as of Thursday.

Secretary of State report

In fact, the race between Golden and Poliquin was heavily nationalized and became the most expensive U.S. House election in Maine history. The candidates and outside groups spent nearly $20.6 million on the race by Election Day. More than 58 percent came from Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Poliquin outpolled Golden by roughly 2,000 votes on Election Day, winning 46.3 percent of votes to Golden’s 45.6 percent, according to unofficial results reported to the Bangor Daily News. But Maine’s ranked-choice voting system — enshrined by voters in 2016 — kicked in because neither candidate won a majority and 8 percent of voters ranked one of the two independents first.

Votes for lawyer Tiffany Bond of Portland and educator Will Hoar of Southwest Harbor were reallocated over a five-day count by Secretary of State Matt Dunlap’s office in Augusta that ended on Thursday. Golden was declared the winner as a result of the ranked-choice counting with 50.53 percent of votes to Poliquin’s 49.47 percent.

Now the focus shifts to U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker, who on Wednesday heard arguments in Poliquin’s lawsuit against Dunlap over ranked-choice voting, which was filed on Tuesday. It claims that the method violates the U.S. Constitution and other areas of law and asks a judge to stop the ranked-choice count and declare Poliquin the winner.

About 90 minutes before the ranked ballots were to be tallied, Walker denied Poliquin’s request for a restraining order to stop the count. That cleared the way for the next round of ranked-choice voting to take place in Augusta. It also dealt a major blow to Poliquin’s overall legal bid, though the Republican said in a statement that he would continue the court fight.

Maine's Second District - State Senator Emily Cain for Congress

State Senator Emily Cain is engaged in an important race for US Congress - but the good news is, she's running for office in a district where people get to know their candidates. She lives in Maine's Second District where she's represented her constituents in Penobscot County in the Maine legislature for several years. She's become knows as a neighbor who's willing to fight for her constituents.

Congressman Mike Michaud- D, made the decision to run for Maine governor in 2014, rather than run for re-election to Congress. In so doing, Michaud opened an opportunity for Emily Cain to be Maine's the next Congresswoman. 

Of course, Cain must defeat T-Party right wing Republican candidate Bruce Poliquin in the November election. 

Batten down the hatches - the negative campaigning will begin at any time. 

Fortunately, Emily Cain is quickly building on her favorable ratings among people who know her as a friendly, intelligent, capable legislator and good neighbor to her friends in Orono. 

At a meet and greet reception hosted by the American Nurses Association of Maine, Cain visited with guests of the event for over 2 hours, answering questions and posing for photographs.

Most important, Cain explained her position on protecting access to women's health, saving Social Security, and Medicare and support for quality education being available to all.

To help win the 2nd District Maine Congressional seat, State Senator Cain will be engaged in as many face to face meetings as possible, especially in neighborhoods where Franco-American voters live, in Androscoggin County.

Maine's Second District is a large land area with a low population density. Consequently, it doesn't take huge numbers of voters to make a difference in election outcomes.  

As a result, it's vitally important for all of Maine's Second District Democratic votes to support State Senator Emily Cain, by planning to support her in the November 2014 election.

Cain's election to Congress will minimize the impact of the T-Party's uncompromising control in public policy.

Maine's Second District election will be heavily financed by the national Republican Party but it's a place in the US where voters get to really know their candidates. With as much face to face meetings as possible, State Senator Emily Cain will win her election to Congress and set back right wing T-Party efforts to control the US Congress. Let's make it happen!