Maine begins ranked choice voting in governor's race

(The Center Square) — Maine election officials began recounting tens of thousands of ballots Friday cast in the governor's race as the multi-day process of picking Democratic and Republican nominees by ranked choice voting got underway.

The ranked choice process is being held at the Maine Department of Public Safety Headquarters building in Augusta, and officials have set up a live stream for the public to watch the counters. The Secretary of State's office said it expects the tabulation process to be completed by next week.

In Tuesday's Democratic primary, Nirav Shah, a physician and former U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention official, was ahead with 26.7% as of Tuesday night when the Associated Press determined that the race would go to a run-off.

Hannah Pingree, a former speaker of the state House of Representatives, had 23.2%; former Senate President Troy Jackson had 23 % of the vote; Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Angus King III, son of the state's independent U.S. senator, were also on Tuesday's primary ballot.

On the Republican ticket, Bobby Charles, an attorney and former Navy intelligence officer, was ahead with 38.5% of the vote, according to preliminary results. Jonathan Bush, the nephew of former Republican President George H.W. Bush, and Businessman Ben Midgley were tied with 19.7% of the vote.

Other GOP candidates — Garrett Mason, Owen McCarthy, David Jones, and Robert Wessels — received single-digit support from voters.

Because no one picked up more than 50% of the vote in either primary, the state is re-tabulating voters' second and third choices to determine who has the most votes.

Maine is one of only two states that use ranked-choice voting, and the system factored heavily in the gubernatorial primary races.

The rules require voters to list candidates in order of preference, which comes into play in crowded races when no candidate gets 50% of the votes. When that happens, the candidate who got the least votes is eliminated, and their votes are reallocated and re-tabulated until someone wins a majority.

Maine law requires for the results of the election to be given to the governor certify no later than 20 days after the election. State election officials expect to wrap up by the Juneteenth holiday, but said as possible that candidates could request recounts. Ranked choice voting won't be used for the general election, officials say.

Mills, who can't run for the seat again due to term limits, was seeking the Democratic party's nod to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November's election but dropped out.

The winners of the Democratic and Republican primaries will face state Sen. Rick Bennett, who will also be on the November ballot running as an independent.