| Ariana St Pierre | WGME |
AUGUSTA, Maine (WGME) — The ranked-choice voting tabulation process began on Monday in the race for Maine’s Second Congressional District despite Democrat Matt Dunlap conceding to Republican Paul LePage.
The Secretary of State’s Office reports just over 341,000 ballots were cast in the race, with about 170,000 votes for LePage and just under 165,000 votes for Dunlap.
”Someone has to get over 50% of the vote
Neither Dunlap nor LePage received more than 50% of the vote, triggering a ranked-choice tabulation.
The ranked-choice voting tabulation process has happened before in races where a candidate has already conceded. In fact, it happened in CD2. In 2020, there were three candidates for the Republican primary. Two of them conceded, but it still went to ranked-choice voting because it’s state law that someone has to get over 50% of the vote.