Good morning from Augusta, where we’re playing the waiting game. The Democratic gubernatorial primary is still locked in ranked-choice counting and the Legislature will be back in Augusta on Tuesday to vote on a spending package.
Tallying of ranked-choice ballots is underway. The outcome of just one race — that Democratic gubernatorial primary — is in doubt under Maine’s new voting system. The first-round margin between Attorney General Janet Mills and attorney Adam Cote remained within five percentage points with 88 percent of Maine precincts reporting unofficial results by Friday.
The process of feeding ballots and voting information into a central computer is under way after beginning Friday in Augusta. It will continue today. Depending on when all the ballots from across Maine arrive, the tally could be done today or tomorrow and will take moments.
We think Mills is favored to win. The Bangor Daily News on Friday combined real first-round returns with weighted exit polling data collected at polling places in eight Maine cities and towns. Simulations from that process showed that while the margin between Mills and Cote could tighten as ranked-choice tallying advances, Mills should emerge with a majority in the sixth and final round of counting.
To read the rest of “Biding our time before ranked ballots are counted and the Maine Legislature returns,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Michael Shepherd, please follow this link to the BDN online.
