Getty Voters cast their ballots in the voting booths.
Maine voters have cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election. Unlike most other states, Maine does not have a winner-take-all system and instead grants two of its four Electoral College votes to the winner of the statewide vote and one vote each to the winner of Maine’s two congressional districts.
While Joe Biden has been projected to win the state and the 1st Congressional District, Trump has been projected to win the 2nd Congressional District, splitting the state’s vote once again like in 2016.
See below for live election results of the 2020 presidential race and votes across Maine, courtesy of Heavy’s partnership with Decision Desk HQ:
Below Are the Live Presidential Election Results From Maine & a Map Showing the Votes Throughout the State
Maine’s Electoral College vote is split, with two of its votes going to the winner of the state’s popular vote. The results of the statewide race are available below, followed by live results for Maine’s two congressional districts, which are worth one electoral college vote each. At 2:40 a.m., Decision Desk HQ projected that Biden would win the state of Maine and its two electoral votes.
The live results of votes in the 1st Congressional District are available below. Biden is projected to win this district and gain its one Electoral College vote.
See below for the live results of the voting in the 2nd Congressional District. The candidate who wins the district will receive one Electoral College vote. Decision Desk HQ projected that Trump would win this district and its vote:
The 2020 presidential election is special for Maine as it is the first time that a state is using a ranked ballot system to decide the election. Most elections in the U.S. use the “first past the post” system, which means that voters choose one candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins, whether they have a majority of votes or not. With the new ranked ballot system, when there are more than two candidates, voters in Maine will be asked to rank the candidates from their first to their last choice, FiveThirtyEight explained:
If no candidate receives a majority of first-place votes, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and his or her supporters are redistributed among the remaining candidates based on whom they ranked second. If still no candidate has a majority, the candidate with the next-fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and so on until someone wins 50 percent plus one vote.
In the 2020 election, Maine allowed all voters to cast their ballots by mail or in person, and early voting started in early October. According to WGME, October 30 was the last day for early voting and many areas had already begun processing the ballots. The outlet reported that nearly 40% of registered voters had voted early, meaning almost 420,000 ballots were submitted prior to Election Day.
The state extended its absentee-ballot processing period so officials were able to begin processing the ballots in the week prior to November 3. That means many areas of Maine expected to have their results processed and released on election night, the Sun Journal reported. Data from the state primary election in Maine on July 14 showed that there are 386,786 registered Democrats in the state and 295,122 registered Republicans.
There were other key elections on the ballot in Maine, including the contest for a Senate seat that could be critical for either party looking for a majority in the upper chamber. The Republican incumbent Susan Collins is looking to hold off a strong challenge from Democratic candidate Sara Gideon. That race has not yet been called but live results are below:
Maine’s two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were also up for grabs in the 2020 election, both of which are currently held by Democrats. In the 1st Congressional District, Representative Chellie Pingree is projected to win against Republican Jay Allen for her 7th term in Congress. In the 2nd Congressional District, Representative Jared Golden hopes to secure a second term in Congress by defeating Republican Dale Crafts. The results of the House races are available below by clicking on Maine or selecting it in the dropdown menu:
The local race results will also be available on Maine’s Secretary of State website.
The Polls Heading Into Election Day Showed Biden With a Slight Lead Over Trump in Maine
At the end of October, the polls were showing Biden holding onto a lead over Trump heading into the election. FiveThirtyEight showed that a poll from Emerson College had Biden leading over Trump with 54% to 43%. The polls also showed Biden with a lead over Trump in both congressional districts, although with a much slimmer lead in the 2nd Congressional District.
In the 1st District, Biden was leading Trump by 19 points, 58% to 39%, while in the 2nd District Biden’s lead was only three points, 50% to 47%.
A SurveyUSA poll conducted a few days prior had similar results, with Biden leading Trump in the state 53% to 40% and the same points lead in both congressional districts as the Emerson College poll showed, FiveThirtyEight reported.
Maine Is Considered a Blue State & Has Voted for a Democratic Candidate in the Past 7 Elections, Although the Results Were Close in 2016
Maine is considered a blue state since it’s voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in the past seven elections, although the 2016 race was much closer than previous ones, with Hillary Clinton winning the state by just 2.9%, according to 270toWin. Clinton received 357,735 votes while Trump received 335,593 votes, as per the Maine Secretary of State.
Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that do not have a winner-take-all system for their Electoral College votes. Despite that, the state has only had a split vote once, in the 2016 election. According to the National Archives, Clinton won the vote in Maine and received the two statewide Electoral College votes as well as the vote from the 1st Congressional District for a total of three. However, Trump won the vote in the 2nd Congressional District and received its one Electoral College vote.
The state was quite divided in 2016, with Clinton winning the 1st Congressional District by almost 15%, whereas Trump won the 2nd Congressional District, which is more rural, by over 10%, 270toWin pointed out.
Follow the Live Countrywide Results of the 2020 Presidential Race Below With a Map & Electoral College Votes
Heavy has partnered with Decision Desk HQ for live election results of the nationwide presidential race. You can find those results here:
Decision Desk HQ also provides the live results of electoral college votes for a quick glance at where the candidates stand in the race to get the 270 votes necessary to secure the presidency. See those results below:
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