Republican Poliquin challenges Maine Ranked Voting

[Jimmy Higgins]

link

Staff with the Maine Secretary of State's Office Wednesday resumed the ranked-choice voting count for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District race, as a federal judge began reviewing a request from incumbent Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s campaign to issue a restraining order to stop the count. They expect to finish the tabulation Thursday.After a hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Judge Lance Walker said his decision on a temporary restraining order won't come until Thursday, at the earliest. Meanwhile, Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap said his office intends to proceed with the vote count as planned.

So Maine twice voted to move to this ranked version of voting to ensure third party votes don't skew election results. And now, the Republican who is the first past the post winner, wants to challenge the new ranked version (which he knew existed prior to the election) because it might mean he loses the election despite having the plurality (not majority, which enacts the ranked redistribution of the vote of the lesser winners of votes) of the vote right now.

How typical of Republicans. This case shouldn't have a chance in heck and it is a desperate maneuver.

 

[Worldtraveller]

This is my shocked face.

I'd like to think that if this happened to a Dem candidate, they would at least accept that it's a better system, regardless of results.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Now, now. This guy has clearly been railing about the unfairness of the system throughout the entire process and definitely didn't only become concerned with the constiutional issues after this method had him losing. He's totally not some kind of useless hypocrite who just needs to wander off and go fuck himself.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

And the judge gave him the finger, and the Democrat wins the instant run-off. If the Republican just got a majority of the vote, then he would have won. Only has himself to blame really.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

And the judge gave him the finger, and the Democrat wins the instant run-off. If the Republican just got a majority of the vote, then he would have won. Only has himself to blame really.

Well, he can also blame George Soros for flying illegal immigrants up to Maine in his private jet in order to have them fraudulently vote for the Democrat.

 

[lpetrich]

Golden defeats Poliquin in contested 2nd District ranked-choice count — Politics — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine
Jared Golden wins ranked-choice count for Maine's 2nd District
From the second link:

Candidate	Votes	Pct	Transfer	Votes	Pct
Bond, Tiffany	16260	05.73%	-16260	0	00.00%
Golden, Jared (D)	128999	45.48%	10232	139231	50.53%
Hoar, William	6753	02.38%	-6753	0	00.00%
Poliquin, Bruce (R)	131631	46.41%	4695	136326	49.47%

As expected, the voters who preferred Bond and Hoar also preferred Golden over Poliquin.

For now, the ranked-choice voting system is used only in federal races and in statewide primary elections in Maine. It cannot be used in the governor's race or legislative races because of concerns it runs afoul of the state constitution.

Democratic Gov.-elect Janet Mills has vowed to seek to amend the Maine's constitution so the system can be used in all elections.

I hope that she succeeds.

 

[Gun Nut]

This is my shocked face.

I'd like to think that if this happened to a Dem candidate, they would at least accept that it's a better system, regardless of results.

.. because the high ground? They say it's lonely at the top...where noone votes for you because they can;t even see you through the clouds of laughter from the side that is playing to win.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

This is my shocked face.

I'd like to think that if this happened to a Dem candidate, they would at least accept that it's a better system, regardless of results.

.. because the high ground? They say it's lonely at the top...where noone votes for you because they can;t even see you through the clouds of laughter from the side that is playing to win.

Ya, there's really no reason to assume that the Dem guy wouldn't have been an equally whiny bitch if the results had gone the other way.

 

[Worldtraveller]

This is my shocked face.

I'd like to think that if this happened to a Dem candidate, they would at least accept that it's a better system, regardless of results.

.. because the high ground? They say it's lonely at the top...where noone votes for you because they can;t even see you through the clouds of laughter from the side that is playing to win.

Ya, there's really no reason to assume that the Dem guy wouldn't have been an equally whiny bitch if the results had gone the other way.

Other than experience, you mean? I'm really getting tired of the "both sides" BS. It's not a remotely equal thing. There are some bad actors that are democrats, no doubt. There are some republicans that are probably honest and mean well. Those number are probably about equal, if you really want to do the both sides thing.

 

[lpetrich]

On the litigation:

Facing defeat, Maine candidate sues to stop ranked choice voting count

The legal claims Poliquin’s case puts forward are weak. For example, the first claim argues that the United States Constitution requires the election be conducted by a plurality vote ...

The complaint also claims that the fact that ranked choice voting lets voters vote honestly violates the right to vote, saying “The right to vote for a candidate of the voter’s own choice includes the right to vote strategically or tactically to advance a weaker candidate to a subsequent election or round of voting so that the voter’s actual preferred candidate will have a better chance of ultimately winning.” Such a claim deserves credit for its creativity, but we do not believe it will find favor with a federal judge.

Judge: Ranked choice voting count must continue in Maine - FairVote
The judge rebutted each of Rep. Poliquin's claims.

This opinion responds only to the Plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order, or TRO, to stop the RCV count from proceeding. The lawsuit is still ongoing and the next step would be for Judge Walker to release a scheduling order. However, Judge Walker’s opinion makes clear he is unpersuaded on the substance of the Plaintiffs’ argument, and so, it is possible that Rep. Poliquin will withdraw the lawsuit.

It appears that the legal challenge will follow the path of prior cases brought by opponents against RCV, all of which have lost in court.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/15/jared-golden-maine-election-993293

Democrat Jared Golden has defeated GOP Rep. Bruce Poliquin in Maine's 2nd District, bringing Democrats' net gain in the House to 36 seats with five GOP seats still uncalled — and with Poliquin still embroiled in a lawsuit against Maine's secretary of state over the vote.

---

36 seats! With 5 possibles more. Can the Democrats gain 41 seat total?

 

[lpetrich]

Maine congressman files complaint asking for new election - CBS News

Attorneys for Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, filed a complaint Tuesday evening asking a federal judge to call for a new election if he does not grant an injunction finding ranked-choice voting unconstitutional. Poliquin narrowly lost to Democrat Jared Golden after ranked-choice ballots were counted on Nov. 15, after U.S. District Judge Lance Walker denied Poliquin's motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the tabulation of ballots.

...
Poliquin's camp argues that ranked-choice voting violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees to due process and equal protection as well as the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Imaginative and farfetched interpretations are something that the Right has long grumbled about, but anything to win, I guess.

 

[lpetrich]

Judge tosses lawsuit by GOP congressman who lost election (AP news)

In his ruling, Walker rejected Poliquin’s arguments that ranked balloting gives some voters more expression than others or proves too confusing for the average voter.

“The point is that ‘one person, one vote’ does not stand in opposition to ranked balloting, so long as all electors are treated equally at the ballot,” Walker said.

That's a good argument. One should not be too literal-minded about "one person, one vote", as long as each voter has the same voting strength.

Poliquin’s lawyer had argued the candidate-ranking system required voters to “guess” which candidates would survive until the second, runoff-style round of tabulations. Poliquin also argued several thousand Maine voters who didn’t select Poliquin or Golden were effectively disenfranchised.

But Walker said it’s just as likely that such ballots were “protest votes.”

“I am not persuaded that it is unduly burdensome for voters to educate themselves about the candidates in order to determine the best way to rank their preferences,” Walker said.

In fact, that's how it's supposed to work. If one's favorite candidate doesn't win, one's next favorite might. Thus, if one liked Jill Stein in 2016, and one was willing to settle for Hillary Clinton, one can make one's first preference JS and one's second preference HC. So if JS doesn't win in the first count, one still has a vote for HC in later counts.

The judge also said he failed to see how Maine’s ranked-choice voting system undercut voters’ First Amendment rights “in any fashion.” The system, he said, was “motivated by a desire to enable third-party and non-party candidates to participate in the political process, and to enable their supporters to express support, without producing the spoiler effect.”

The new method of voting “actually encourages First Amendment expression, without discriminating against any voter based on viewpoint, faction or other invalid criteria,” said Walker.

Poliquin's lawyers must have been grasping at straws.