Maine

Poliquin, Voters Sue Over Maine's New Ranking System

Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin and three other voters are suing over Maine's new voting system used for the first time in U.S. House and Senate elections.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in federal court. It seeks a preliminary injunction, and a lawyer for Poliquin's campaign asked to stop the process of additional voting tabulations until a judge can rule.

Poliquin received the most first-place votes on Election Day and believes he should be declared the winner. But the ranked-choice voting system requires additional voting rounds because neither he nor Democrat Jared Golden won an outright majority.

The voting system approved by referendum in 2016 lets voters rank candidates from first to last on the ballot. It provides for eliminations of last-place candidates and reallocations of votes to ensure that the winner gets a majority.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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