“Our office has appealed the Superior Court’s decision to the Law Court, with a focus on the legal issue of circulates being registered voters in the time they circulate petitions,” said Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap in a press release issued this afternoon.

The Secretary’s comment came in response to a ruling by a Maine judge earlier this week.  Superior court Judge Thomas McKeon ruled that Secretary Dunlap’s “improperly invalidated 988 signatures, just barely enough to qualify the effort for the ballot.  If the decision stands, it will be the third time in four years that Maine will vote on ranked-choice voting,” according to an article in the “Bangor Daily News,” on Wednesday, August 26, 2020 by Caitlin Andrews.

“Republicans have led opposition to the method since it first was passed here in 2016.  It took an even more partisan turn after US Rep Bruce Poliquin lost his seat in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District to Democrat Jared Golden in 2018,” according to the same article referred to above.

An additional appeal has been filed by intervening parties, the press release from the Secretary’s office stated.  As these appeals are pending, the Elections Division staff are working on the layout of 350 different ballot styles for all the federal, state and county offices, consistent with the Superior Court’s ruling in order to ensure the timely printing and distribution of ballots for the November 3, 2020 General Election.

If the legal status of the court’s decision changes, the staff will pivot to create a different ballot layout if time permits,” according to the press release from the Secretary’s office.