Election officials say a ranked-choice voting tabulation aimed at determining the winner of a key congressional race in Maine starts in the coming week. Democratic U.S.

The race between Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a moderate known for defying party orthodoxy, and Austin Theriault, a stock car driver and Republican state lawmaker, was too early to call Wednesday morning.

With the balance of power in the U.S. House still up for grabs, Democrats were claiming victory in a key tossup race in Maine. While NBC News hasn’t projected a winner at 77% of votes counted, the Maine Democratic Party said Wednesday afternoon that Rep.

The thin margin came in an election in which Republican Donald Trump won the 2nd District, allowing him to collect one of Maine’s four electoral votes. Maine is one of two states that split electoral votes.

The bruising and expensive race for the 2nd District seat is headed to a ranked choice runoff, and there is an outside chance that a write-in candidate could play a role in the outcome.

If they picked a number two after that first choice blank or write-in, then that does get tabulated in the ranked choice voting tabulation,” Maine Secretary of State Shenna B

The bruising and expensive race for Maine's 2nd District seat is headed to a ranked choice runoff in which a write-in candidate and blank ballots could play roles.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced ranked-choice tabulation will be required based on the initial results of the General Election for Maine Congressional District 2. The ranked choice voting tabulation is a public process that will begin next week in Augusta.