THE COASTAL PACKET: LePage threatens not to certify ranked choice voting

Wednesday, June 13

LePage threatens not to certify ranked choice voting

Vox - Maine’s Republican Gov. Paul LePage has threatened not to certify the results of Tuesday’s primary elections in Maine, because the state is using an entirely new system of voting.

As Maine voters head to the polls to cast ballots in the nation’s first statewide election using ranked-choice voting (also known as instant-runoff voting), LePage sat down for an interview with the local TV station WCSH-TV, during which he called the new voting system “the most horrific thing in the world.”

“I will probably not certify the election,” LePage said. “I will leave it up to the courts to decide.”

That’s left Maine’s other state officials scrambling to figure out what to do next, in the middle of election day.

Even if LePage follows through on his threat, there may be other ways to certify the election results. Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap told the Portland Press Herald that he is consulting with the state attorney general on other ways the votes could be certified, though he did not specify exactly how that could happen.

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