The party says Maine’s secretary of state improperly rejected thousands of signatures on a petition aimed at overturning a law applying ranked choice to presidential elections.
Scott Thistle
Scott Thistle is the State House reporter for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. He has covered politics and government in Maine since 2006. Prior to that he served as the State House reporter for the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth, Minnesota. A Maine native, Thistle has worked in journalism since 1990, when he got his start at a weekly newspaper in rural Oxford County, Maine. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an active volunteer with the National Ski Patrol. He resides with his wife, Amy and his two sons Finn and Kai, in Auburn, Maine.
Maine businesses say survival may hinge on more help
Business owners say the federal Paycheck Protection Program loans helped them weather what they hope was the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they remain unsettled and worried about the future.
Bill to force CMP takeover replaced with measure to explore options
A last-minute amendment turned a bill that could have created a consumer-owned electric utility in Maine into a proposal to study the matter and recommend legislation in 2021.
Women for Trump draw crowd of 100 for campaign stop in Old Orchard Beach
Lara Trump leads a busload of women campaigning for her father-in-law in an event at a beachside restaurant.
Maine bill would help veterans discharged because of sexual orientation
The measure calls for Maine’s Bureau of Veterans Services to provide state benefits to veterans who received other-than-honorable discharges before the federal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law was repealed in 2011.
Freeport brewery cancels Trump campaign event, saying it was misled
The owners of Stars and Stripes Brewery say they did not know an event scheduled at their business Wednesday was for the president’s reelection campaign.
Republicans’ demands keep lawmakers sidelined, with hundreds of bills in limbo
The Democratic majority leaders want the Legislature to return for a special session, but Republicans insist that it be limited to curbing Gov. Janet Mills’ executive powers and responding to virus-related problems.
Maine secretary of state rejects petition to repeal ranked-choice voting
The Maine Republican Party’s referendum initiative to overturn the use of ranked-choice in presidential contests submitted too few valid signatures to make the November ballot.
Flurry of absentee voting continues right up to Maine’s unusual July primary
Town and city clerks have been inundated with absentee ballots, and some election officials still expect to see voters at the polls for a primary that was delayed from June by the pandemic.
‘Full speed ahead’ for Maine’s first election during pandemic
State and local officials say they feel confident Tuesday’s elections will go smoothly, despite a record number of primary voters having filed absentee ballots.