PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The battle over Maine’s new voter-approved voting system is heading to court.

U.S District Court Judge Lance Walker is set to hear arguments Dec. 5 in a lawsuit filed by Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin and three Republican activists.

Poliquin says it’s unconstitutional for Maine to allow voters to rank all candidates from first to last on the ballot. If no one gets a majority, then last-place candidates are eliminated and their second-place votes are reallocated to the remaining field in extra rounds of vote-counting.

The last New England Republican in the U.S. House has refused to concede his election defeat to Democratic lawmaker Jared Golden.


Poliquin’s legal battle is expected to drag on for weeks. Briefs will be filed Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.