Six write-in candidates file for Maine U.S. Senate race, prompting ranked-choice voting

Six people formally declared write-in candidacies for U.S. Sen. Susan Collins’ seat, which means ranked-choice voting will be used for the race in November. 

Only Collins, the five-term Republican incumbent, and Democratic nominee Troy Jackson will appear on the ballot, but there will be a third line where voters can write-in a candidate if they so choose — and then rank all three of those names. But if a voter writes in the name of someone who isn’t a declared write-in candidate, their vote will go uncounted. 

Half a dozen people met the deadline on Tuesday to declare as a write-in, none of whom are registered Republicans. They include Brent Andrews of York (unaffiliated), Sigrid Ann Olson of Cape Elizabeth (a Democrat), Gina Oswald of Strong (independent), Joseph Steinberger of Rockland (registered as “Faith in Humanity”), Mike Turcotte of Burnham (unenrolled), and Ashley Webb of Farmington (a Democrat).

A few people had been calling for Mainers to write-in former Democratic nominee Graham Platner, who dropped out in July after an accusation of sexual assault, starting the state party’s scramble to eventually selecting Jackson as his replacement. Platner did not declare as a write-in. 

One of the declared write-ins had been among those who vied to be his replacement: Webb. Separately, Turcotte had briefly considered running for Senate in 2014. 

If no candidate receives more than 50% of votes on Election Day, the race goes to ranked choice run-off, where last-place candidates would be eliminated first. Votes for those candidates are then redistributed to a voter’s next choice. That’s repeated until one candidate receives more than 50% of votes.

The primary elections for state and federal offices in Maine can use ranked-choice voting, but the method only applies to federal races in the general election.