Maine voters will cast ballots Tuesday in a primary election featuring several crowded races where the outcome almost certainly will not be settled on Election Night. Because multiple contests are likely to trigger ranked-choice runoff tabulations, officials say some final results may not be confirmed until as late as June 19.
Why It Matters
Maine is one of only two states — Alaska is the other — that allow voters to rank candidates by preference in certain statewide elections. The system prevents a candidate from winning a multi-way primary with a narrow plurality, but it also means results in competitive races take longer to finalize. With a five-way Democratic gubernatorial primary, an eight-candidate Republican governor’s race, and a four-person field in the Democratic contest for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, ranked-choice tabulations are widely expected across several high-profile races.
Voters may rank candidates in order of preference or simply choose one. A candidate wins outright on Election Night only by receiving more than 50 percent of first-choice votes. If no one clears that threshold, the state moves to a ranked-choice tabulation process — a methodical, multi-round elimination that begins with the last-place finisher’s votes being redistributed to those voters’ next-ranked choices, continuing until someone crosses 50 percent.
What Happens After the Polls Close
Under Maine law, municipalities have two days to report results to the state. Once that window closes, the Secretary of State’s Office evaluates whether a ranked-choice tabulation is necessary. If it is, the work is scheduled to begin June 12 at the state capital in Augusta, with a target completion date of no later than June 19.
The tabulation will be conducted by Kate McBrien, Chief Deputy Secretary of State, and Julie Flynn, Deputy Secretary of State. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows — herself a candidate in the Democratic gubernatorial primary — has stepped back from the process to avoid any conflict of interest.
McBrien described the timeline as a feature, not a flaw. “The process is long, but it’s long so that it can be thorough and it can be accurate and it can be very transparent,” she said. She also noted that completing the ranked-choice tabulation before any potential recount requests makes logistical sense: “Our plan right now is to go through the rank choice process first because that may help to eliminate some needs for a recount.”
The entire tabulation will be broadcast live on the Secretary of State’s YouTube channel, and staff will work standard business hours — 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — during the process. The work involves running paper ballots through tabulator machines, uploading results from memory sticks to computers not connected to the internet, and hand-counting any ballots the machines cannot read. Statewide contests draw results from 487 municipal voting districts across Maine, making the counting more involved than local races, which are expected to wrap up more quickly.
Races Most Likely to Need Runoffs
The Democratic gubernatorial primary is a five-way contest, making a runoff tabulation highly probable. On the Republican side, eight candidates appear on the ballot, though Jim Libby dropped out in April after the removal deadline had passed, meaning his name remains listed. A heated Republican gubernatorial primary with that many active candidates makes it unlikely any single contender will cross 50 percent on the first count.
Also expected to require ranked-choice tabulation is the Democratic primary for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, where four candidates are competing. Some state legislative primaries, including a four-way race in one of Maine’s more conservative districts, may also need the additional rounds.
One notable ballot footnote: Gov. Janet Mills suspended her U.S. Senate campaign in late April but remains listed on the Democratic primary ballot, as withdrawal deadlines had already passed.
What’s Next
Automatic recounts are triggered only in the event of a dead tie. In ranked-choice races, candidates who placed in the top three during the second-to-last counting round are eligible to request a recount. A recent example illustrates how protracted the process can be: in 2024, Republican Austin Theriault requested a recount following his race against Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, and Golden was not confirmed as the winner until nearly a month after Election Day.
Maine voters and candidates should expect a similar wait in several of Tuesday’s contests before official winners are certified.