FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
626-8400

 

* * * MEDIA ADVISORY * * *

Ranked Choice Voting Tabulations

The Secretary of State’s Office, historically, does not share election results until they are official and certified, signed off by the governor 20 days after the election. However, in the interest of maintaining an open process during the tabulation of the ranked-choice voting (RCV) races in the Nov. 6, 2018 General Election, the office will be sharing the following information, ONLY for the three RCV races*:

• The unofficial results of the ranked-choice voting rounds, including which candidate was eliminated in each round, and how those votes were redistributed to other candidates (or other final disposition including overvotes, exhausted ballots, etc.)   
  

These results will be released as soon as they are available, likely during the week of November 12. Dates are subject to change and the public will be updated during the process. Results tabulation will be subject to the expediency of the ballot/memory device collection and staff time to process the materials, which includes unlocking and unsealing each ballot box; unsealing and uploading all the memory devices; and loading all of these votes into the high-speed tabulator results program. (Hand-count towns will submit ballots; municipalities that use tabulators will submit their memory devices). Municipalities have three days after the election to submit their results to the Elections Division, per Maine law. As always,official results will be available and posted 20 days after the election as Excel files on the Election Results page.   

The contracted courier service, General Courier of South Portland, will begin to collect ballots/memory devices beginning Thursday, Nov. 8 and deliver them to the tabulation site in Augusta. The courier schedule will not be made public, for security reasons, and all questions regarding the courier process should be directed to the Department of the Secretary of State.

The ballot tabulation process will take place in a secure area at the Elkins Building, 19 Elkins Lane, on the former AMHI campus in Augusta, during regular business hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) beginning Friday, Nov. 9 and including Saturday, Nov. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the Veterans Day holiday, Monday, Nov. 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until completion of the tabulation process. This is a public proceeding and press are welcome, so long as they remain within the public area and do not record and/or publish any distinguishable footage of markings on ballots.

Visitors should use the Williams Pavilion entrance. Parking is available in front of the Wellness Center and a public restroom is available on site. Public space (pictured at right) is limited; if necessary, access may be managed to allow all interested parties a chance to observe the tabulation process. Wi-Fi will be available for public use in the building. (Please be advised that none of the tabulation computers or equipment are Wi-Fi enabled and are not connected to any outside networks.)

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Kristen Muszynski, communications director for the Department of the Secretary of State, at 207-626-8404 or 207-441-7638 (cell).  
*Those races include those for U.S. Senate, U.S. Congressional District 1 and U.S. Congressional District 2.
October 2018