Outgoing Gov. Leaves Savage Burn on Election Results for Dem. Who Won
It’s truly curious how Democrats will be the first to be up in arms anytime a close election doesn’t go their way.
When a Democrat loses, it must be “voter suppression” or some other nefarious plot to undermine them.
But if a Democrats win a tight race by, say, “ballot harvesting“? They’ll laud it as a hard-earned victory.
It’s a truly nauseating double-standard. Making matter worse, it’s a double-standard that Democrats have gotten away with for years.
You certainly won’t hear the establishment media criticizing Democrats, and many Republicans don’t want to come off as sore losers.
But when an outgoing Republican governor, who has nothing left to really lose, has to sign off on a close and controversial congressional race in his state? That certainly sets up the potential for sparks to fly.
And, boy, did the sparks ever fly in Maine.
Outgoing Republican Gov. Paul LePage voiced his sincere contempt with the manner in which Democratic Rep.-elect Jared Golden “beat” incumbent two-term Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin in the November election.
I use “beat” in quotations because it must be noted that Poliquin initially finished with 2,000 more votes than Golden. Thanks to some questionable loopholes, Golden ultimately surged ahead and won.
LePage was obviously not happy with the way it happened, and he made sure to note it on the official election documents he had to sign off on.
I’ve signed off on the CD2 election result as it’s no longer in federal court. Ranked Choice Voting didn’t result in a true majority as promised-simply a plurality measured differently. It didn’t keep big money out of politics & didn’t result in a more civil election #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/0fEhD1dvAb
— Paul R. LePage (@Governor_LePage) December 28, 2018
Next to his signature, LePage very clearly wrote “Stolen Election.” That is as searing of a jab as any, and considering the legal importance of the document, it will be enshrined forever.
But as savage as that burn was, the manner in which Golden won his House seat is certainly no trivial matter.
The controversy in Maine centers on its “ranked-choice” electoral system, per Fox News. In that system, if a candidate does not win the outright majority of votes, another tally of votes is triggered. Unlike the original tally, the “ranked-choice” tally would consider voters’ second and sometimes even third choices on a ballot, then add those votes to the tally.
That initial 2,000-vote lead that Poliquin had was wiped out when Golden overtook the lead after secondary votes for independent candidates were reallocated in his favor.
It’s as dubious as it sounds and an unsurprising impetus for Poliquin to pursue legal action. He felt the “ranked-choice” initiative was unconstitutional and asked courts for another election or for him to be outright declared the winner. Neither happened.
Could you imagine the leftist outcry had a Democrat lost an election in this manner? Based on recent history, it wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest that there would be rioting in the streets.
As it stands, don’t expect to hear a peep from the Democrats. By hook or crook, they just got another House seat.
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