By: Shane L. Sullivan
The official results
Mitt Romney, Photo: Darren McCollester
On February 11, 2012, Charlie Webster, head of the Maine Republican party, announced that Mitt Romney won the Maine GOP caucus. Official results read: Romney, 2190 votes; Ron Paul, 1996; Rick Santorum, 989; and New Gingrich, 349. Many people across the country, particularly Ron Paul supporters, are claiming that the caucus was rigged and that a clear winner cannot yet be determined.
The problem
Speculation of the results’ authenticity stem mostly from the fact that only eighty-four percent of precincts’ votes were tallied. In the official results, many towns in Maine are listed as having zero votes collected including all of the towns in Aroostook County and most of the towns in Waldo County. The Washington County caucus was cancelled and postponed until Saturday, February 18 due to predictions of a snowstorm. A storm did not come.
Why this is unfair
Ron Paul addressing a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Photo: Chip Somodevilla
Though the votes may be recounted in the future and Washington county voting has been rescheduled for Saturday, Webster says that even if the new results put Ron Paul in first place and Romney in second, Romney will still be considered the official winner. Clearly, the official winner should be based on all of the counties’ votes and not just the ones said to have been correctly collected before the official deadline.
