Gov. Paul LePage declined to get involved in Rep. Bruce Poliquin’s latest legal request, but not without getting in another dig at a ranked-choice voting process he views as “repugnant.” Meanwhile, attorneys for Poliquin and Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap sparred over whether Dunlap exceeded his authority by certifying Democrat Jared Golden as the winner of Maine’s 2nd District race without LePage’s signature. “Under the U.S. Constitution, it is now up to the United States House of Representatives to determine, when it convenes on January 3, 2019, whether to seat Jared Golden, who is the undisputed winner of the ranked-choice voting tabulation under the RCV Act and thus the Representative-elect for Maine’s Second Congressional District,” Assistant Attorney General Phyllis Gardiner wrote on Dunlap’s behalf.
In a brief filed late Wednesday with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the governor’s attorney said LePage “does not take any position” on Poliquin’s attempt to prevent the state from certifying Golden as the winner while the court hears his constitutional challenge of ranked-choice voting.
“The Governor notes, however, that he does disagree with the Secretary of State on the merits of this challenge, and reiterates the points made in his letter to the district court,” attorney Patrick Strawbridge wrote. “It is the Governor’s view that this process is repugnant to the governing legal principles that each person’s vote be counted in every election, as well as the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.”
Full Article: LePage, calling ranked-choice voting ‘repugnant,’ hasn’t certified Golden’s win. But it may not matter. – Portland Press Herald.