Democrat Says Recount In Maine's 2nd Congressional District Delays Inevitable Outcome

Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin has requested a recount in Maine's historic election in which his Democratic opponent won, thanks to ranked balloting.

The Democratic winner, Jared Golden, says Poliquin is within his right to request a recount. But Golden also says that "dragging this process out only hurts the people we were elected to serve."

Golden issued a statement Monday evening, hours after Poliquin requested a recount.

The recount, formally requested by Poliquin on Monday, is expected to take about a month, meaning there will be a race to ensure it's completed before Democrat Jared Golden is seated on Jan. 3.

A spokesman for Poliquin suggested there's distrust in the "artificial intelligence" used in the ranked-choice computer algorithm. The spokesman says there will be "a traditional ballot recount conducted by real people."

Officials say the recount will be more laborious than a traditional election because candidates are ranked on the ballots. Maine state police will be tasked with collecting, delivering and guarding the ballots.

Poliquin had the most first-round votes on Election Day, but his lead didn't hold up after an additional round under ranked-choice voting.

Golden emerged victorious after two trailing candidates were eliminated and their supporters' second-choices were reallocated.