MAINE, USA — After days of tabulation, results are expected to come Tuesday for six races from Maine's June primary that have gone into ranked-choice voting tabulation.
Tabulations include the Congressional District 2 race and the five legislative races subject to RCV, which are House Districts 41, 47, 49, 90 and Senate District 11.
Results are expected to be announced around 10 a.m. Tuesday, according to the office of Maine's Secretary of State.
In the race in ME CD2, candidate Dale Crafts collected 45% of votes in the preliminary round before ranked choice. Candidates are required to receive more than 50% in order win the race without RCV.
Crafts finished ahead of two other candidates vying to challenge incumbent Representative Jared Golden in November. Eric Brakey finished with 23% of votes while Adrienne Bennett received 32% of votes.
RELATED: Ranked Choice count still underway
Both Brakey and Bennett conceded to Crafts, with Brakey conceding the night of the primary and Bennett conceding the following morning. Both have put their support behind Crafts.
Crafts issued a release last Thursday calling on the Maine Legislature to revisit the ranked-choice tabulation process.
Crafts said, “The added cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars to tabulate an election that has been completed is an affront to the taxpayer at this difficult time in situations where a tabulation is not necessary.”
“While I understand that RCV is the law of the land and Secretary Dunlap is performing his duty under the law, it seems completely ridiculous to me that we would perform a dog and pony show at a cost of tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to the taxpayer,” Crafts said. “As a businessman I understand that you don’t spend money you don’t need on things you can’t afford. I understand that liberals love the Ranked Choice Voting scheme, but to spend money on something that doesn’t even matter is offensive to me as a taxpayer.”
The Secretary of State's Office said they have no comment on Crafts' call to action directed at the Maine Legislature but say he's correct that Dunlap is "'performing his duty under the law' by undertaking the CD2 ranked-choice tabulation, which requires that we determine the winner based on the majority of votes in the final round, in which there are only two candidates remaining."
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