Maine ranked-choice count marred by flash drive error, delayed results, and ballot rescanning

Seven days after Maine’s June primary election, questions are emerging about the handling of ranked-choice voting results after reporting issues surfaced in several communities across the state, raising concerns about transparency, chain of custody procedures, and public confidence in the vote-counting process.

The Maine Wire began investigating the irregularities after receiving tips early Tuesday morning alleging problems with election results being processed by the Maine Secretary of State’s Office during the ongoing ranked-choice voting tabulation.

Bellows has still offered no clear public explanation. No timeline. No findings. No corrective action.

The first report involved the City of Biddeford, where election results appeared to be missing from the state’s ranked-choice voting count.

Seeking answers, we traveled to Biddeford City Hall and met with Interim City Clerk Crystal Morin and Communications Director Danica Lamontagne.

According to city officials, the election results were not missing. Instead, they explained that the city had inadvertently sent the wrong flash drive to the Secretary of State’s Office following Election Day.

Officials said the flash drive that was originally sent contained local election results rather than the state election results required for the ranked-choice tabulation process.

City officials further confirmed that investigators from the Secretary of State’s Office later traveled to Biddeford, retrieved the correct flash drive, and transported it to Augusta.

The incident raises several questions, including why it took seven days to discover that the incorrect flash drive had been submitted and what chain-of-custody procedures were in place to ensure the correct flash drive remained secure during that period.

Questions also remain regarding how the error was identified and whether any additional safeguards exist to prevent similar issues in future elections.

RELATED: 'Some noncitizens' on the voter rolls: Maine secretary of state resists efforts for election transparency

Shenna Bellows. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald/Getty Images

Biddeford was not the only municipality where election-related issues emerged.

The Maine Wire also confirmed with officials in the City of Bath that there was a delay involving election results submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Bath City Clerk Diane Barnes confirmed that a delay occurred but said the results were ultimately delivered to Augusta. No explanation was provided regarding the nature of the delay or what caused it.

Meanwhile, officials in the Town of Bowdoinham confirmed that issues arose with ballot scanning following Election Day.

Town officials said ballots needed to be rescanned. However, rather than conducting the rescanning process locally, the ballots were picked up by Maine State Police and transported to Augusta, where the Secretary of State’s Office would conduct the rescanning.

The situation raises additional questions about the verification process used by local election officials and whether municipal clerks were able to independently confirm the election results before ballots were transferred to state officials for rescanning.

Despite reports of issues in multiple communities, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows (D) has not publicly addressed the incidents as of Tuesday afternoon.

No public statement has been issued explaining the Biddeford flash drive error, the reported delay in Bath, or the ballot rescanning issue in Bowdoinham.

Bellows has become something of an infamous secretary of state. In 2024, she attempted to meddle in an election when she tried to remove President Donald Trump from Maine’s 2024 primary ballot, a unilateral move that plunged the state into legal chaos before being ultimately overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Later, 250 absentee ballots surfaced in Newburgh inside an Amazon package. Bellows has still offered no clear public explanation. No timeline. No findings. No corrective action.

This story was originally published at the Maine Wire. You can read more here.

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