SOLON, Maine (AP) — A U.S. Senate hopeful who left the Maine Green Independent Party to make it easier to get onto the November ballot has collected enough signatures to clear the hurdle, her campaign said Tuesday.

Supporters of Lisa Savage, an educator from Solon, collected more than 6,000 signatures, a spokesman said. If the signatures are certified, there will be a third ballot choice in addition to GOP Sen. Susan Collins and the winner of a Democratic primary.

Maine’s ranked-choice voting could come into play with three candidates. The voting system lets voters rank candidates on the ballot and allows multiple voting rounds to ensure a majority winner.

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Savage’s decision to run as an independent freed her from the requirement of getting signatures from 2,000 Greens by March 15. As an independent, Savage had to gather double the signatures — 4,000 — but those signatures could come from any registered Maine voter before a June 1 deadline.

Even though she’s running as an independent, she said her platform remains as “Green as ever” and that she will seek the Green Independent Party’s endorsement.