缅因州务卿贝洛斯称计票或过午夜，各市镇须在投票站手工计票
缅因州州务卿申娜·贝洛斯11月3日下午在刘易斯顿军械库外表示，由于州法律要求各市镇在投票结束后在每个投票站手工计票，缅因州的选举结果可能要到午夜之后才能最终确定。贝洛斯说，各市镇必须在投票站公布计票结果，而且经常会把结果提供给媒体；她的办公室已要求各市镇书记官在11月3日晚间直接向州政府报告结果，但法律并没有强制要求他们这样做。根据缅因州法律，各市镇有两个工作日的时间提交官方结果。贝洛斯还表示，州政府将密切关注计票结果，观察是否有重要选战需要进入排序复选程序。
缅因州投票站全州于11月3日晚8时关闭，部分市镇开门时间更早，但都必须在晚8时前结束投票。当天早些时候，贝洛斯曾表示全州投票率很高，有望创下中期选举纪录；截至11月2日晚，已有超过30万选民提前投票，约占全州登记选民的三分之一。缅因州本届选票上的重头戏包括联邦参议员选举，现任共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯寻求第六个任期，对手是民主党人、前州参议院议长特洛伊·杰克逊；此外还有州长空缺席位之争以及两个国会选区的选举。
（来源：缅因州州务卿办公室）
Maine Secretary of State Bellows Says Counting May Run Past Midnight as Towns Must Hand-Count at Polling Places
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said outside the Lewiston Armory on the afternoon of November 3 that because state law requires municipalities to hand-count ballots at each polling place after voting ends, Maine's election results may not be final until after midnight. Bellows said towns must post results at the polling place and often provide them to the media; her office asked town clerks to report results directly to the state on the night of November 3, but the law does not require them to do so, and municipalities have two business days to submit official results.
Bellows added that the state would watch the count closely for major races that might need to enter ranked-choice tabulation. Maine polls closed statewide at 8 p.m. on November 3, with some towns opening earlier but all required to end voting by 8 p.m. Earlier that day, Bellows said statewide turnout was high and on pace for a midterm record; as of the night of November 2, more than 300,000 voters had voted early, about a third of the state's registered voters. The ballot's headline races included the U.S. Senate contest, in which Republican incumbent Susan Collins sought a sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president, plus an open governor's seat and two U.S. House districts.
(Source: Maine Secretary of State)
来源：缅因州州务卿办公室
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：位于 Augusta 的缅因州议会大厦（公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons）。 / Photo: The Maine State House in Augusta (public domain, via Wikimedia Commons).
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