Ranked voting will decide a pivotal congressional race. How does that work?

Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A ranked choice tabulation to determine the winner of a key congressional race in Maine began Tuesday. Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden is leading but neither he nor Republican Austin Theriault had more than 50% of first-place votes. Maine voters rank candidates in order of preference on ballots, and if necessary to reach a majority, the lesser choices of the last-place finisher’s supporters are reallocated. Election workers in Augusta started scanning the ballots on Tuesday. A requested recount will begin after the process determines a majority winner. Election workers will try to complete both tasks before the state’s Nov. 25 certification deadline.