Ranked voting will determine the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Votes will have to be redistributed under Maine’s ranked choice system to determine the winner of a key congressional race, election officials said.

The campaigns of both Republican challenger Austin Theriault and Democratic Rep. Jared Golden said Friday that they would participate in the process, although Golden said he already won the election, without a need for additional tabulations.

The matchup between Golden and Theriault in Maine's 2nd Congressional District was one of a handful of pivotal races still without a declared winner, with control of the U.S. House of Representatives at stake.

The two candidates were both just below 49%, with Golden holding a slight edge of about 2,000 votes, according to figures released Thursday night by the Maine Department of the Secretary of State. At this point, Maine's winner won't be announced until next week.

Under ranked voting, if no candidate achieves a majority on the first round, the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated to establish a majority. Golden and Theriault were the only candidates on the ballot, but Diana Merenda of Surry, who ran an organized write-in candidacy, received several hundred votes. The second choices of any voters who left their first choice blank also will be counted.

Hundreds of votes for people other than Merenda, the declared write-in, will be treated as blanks. Any blank ballots with no second choice also will be removed from the total, bringing Golden and Theriault closer to a head-to-head count.

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race. Now that won’t happen until next week, after the ballots from all of the district's many cities and towns are transported to the state capital and re-scanned into a computer in a centralized location.

The initial count was so close that Theriault already took the step of requesting a recount, but Theriault’s campaign signaled Friday that it was supportive of the ranked count.

“There is a process in place and we look forward to the process unfolding according to the law,” Theriault campaign manager Shawn Roderick said.

Golden, who had declared victory on Wednesday after some news organizations reported that he had won, said the ranked choice process isn't necessary. His campaign said Friday that it will “participate in any Secretary of State process to determine election results." However, the campaign also said it objects to the inclusion of blank ballots in determining whether the ranked run-off is necessary.

“As we have outlined in letters to the Secretary, a straightforward reading of the current rules makes clear that Congressman Jared Golden won the majority of first-choice votes for a candidate, and is thus the winner,” the Golden campaign said.

Maine has no mandatory recounts, even in close elections. But the state does allow candidates to request a recount. The state does not require a deposit for a recount if the margin of victory is 1% or less in congressional races.

The thin margin came in an election in which Republican Donald Trump won the 2nd District, allowing him to collect one of Maine's four electoral votes. Maine is one of two states that split electoral votes.

During the campaign, Golden touted his ability to work with members of either political party along with his advocacy on behalf of the lobster industry, which is the lifeblood of the region’s economy.

Theriault, who was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 2022, spent much of the campaign portraying Golden as too liberal for the district. Although Theriault had the backing of Trump, he also attempted to portray himself as a potential uniter during a divided time in Washington.

People cast their votes on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Pownal, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Lt. Wayne Clifford stands outside a polling location on Election Day, at the Green Ladle, High School Campus, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Voters fill out their ballots on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, walks down a hallway before addressing the media Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6, 2024, during a press conference at his campaign office in Lewiston, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal via AP)

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, gestures as he walks to the podium to address the media Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6, 2024, during a press conference at his campaign office in Lewiston, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal via AP)

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, fields a question from the media Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6, 2024, during a press conference at his campaign office in Lewiston, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal via AP)

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, addresses the media Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 6, 2024, during a press conference at his campaign office in Lewiston, Maine. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal via AP)

Republican congressional candidate Austin Theriault, center, poses for a photo with supporters Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 outside the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Republican congressional candidate Austin Theriault, right speaks with Carlos Kennelly, left, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 outside the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

A person submits his ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Ranked voting will determine the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District

Voters fill out their ballots on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Maine. (AP Photo/Joel Page)

Ranked voting will determine the winner of Maine's 2nd Congressional District

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A pair of European satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on the first mission to create artificial solar eclipses through fancy formation flying in space.

Each fake eclipse should last six hours once operations begin next year. That's considerably longer than the few minutes of totality offered by a natural eclipse here on Earth, allowing for prolonged study of the sun's corona, or outer atmosphere.

The launch took place from India.

“We are a very happy science team here” in India, the European Space Agency's mission scientist Joe Zender said via email.

Billed as a tech demo, the two satellites will separate in a month or so and fly 492 feet (150 meters) apart once reaching their destination high above Earth, lining up with the sun so that one spacecraft casts a shadow on the other.

This will require extreme precision, within just one millimeter, equivalent to a fingernail's thickness, according to the European Space Agency. To maintain their position, the satellites will rely on GPS, star trackers, lasers and radio links, flying autonomously.

Each cube-shaped spacecraft is less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) across. The shadow-casting satellite holds a disk to block the sun from the telescope on the other satellite. This disk will mimic the moon in a natural total solar eclipse, with the darkened satellite posing as Earth.

“This has a huge scientific relevance” in addition to testing high-precision formation flying,” said the European Space Agency’s technology and engineering director Dietmar Pilz.

Scientists need the glaring face of the sun completely blocked in order to scrutinize the wispy crown-like corona encircling it, getting an especially good look close to the solar rim on this mission. They're particularly interested to learn why the corona is hotter than the surface of the sun, and also want to better understand coronal mass ejections, eruptions of billions of tons of plasma with magnetic fields out into space.

The resulting geomagnetic storms can disrupt power and communication on Earth and in orbit. Such outbursts can also produce stunning auroras in unexpected places.

With a lopsided orbit stretching from 370 miles (600 kilometers) to 37,000 miles (60,000 kilometers) away, the satellites will take nearly 20 hours to circle the world. Six of those hours — at the farther end of certain orbits — will be spent generating an eclipse. Other orbits will be strictly for formation flying experiments, according to the European Space Agency.

The first eclipse results should be available in March, following checkout of both craft.

Zender said eclipses will be created at least twice a week, with six hours of totality each time for corona observations. The frequency will depend on solar activity, he noted, and prove a boon for scientists who now must travel across the world for a mere three to five minutes of totality during the occasional eclipse.

The $210 million mission, dubbed Proba-3, is aiming for at least 1,000 hours of “on demand” totality during its two-year operation. Once their job is done, both satellites will gradually drop lower until they burn up in the atmosphere, likely within five years.

Liftoff was delayed a day by a last-minute issue with the backup propulsion system of one of the satellites, crucial for precision formation flying. The European Space Agency said engineers relied on a computer software fix.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This image taken from video provided by the European Space Agency shows the launching of a rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. A pair of European satellites rocketed into orbit Thursday on the first mission to create artificial solar eclipses through fancy formation flying in space. (European Space Agency via AP)

This image provided by the European Space Agency shows a pair of probes creating an artificial total solar eclipse through formation flying. (European Space Agency via AP)