The 2020 presidential election took days to be decided, but it’s possible that 2024 could take even longer, thanks to a specific voting process used in two states that aren’t typically the focus of national political campaigns.

A total of 3,793 people registered to vote the same month President Biden ended his reelection campaign, according to the Maine Department of Secretary of State.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will likely appear on Maine ballots in November after a challenge to his nominating petitions was dropped.

The Topsham resident who challenged independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being on the presidential ballot in Maine has withdrawn his petition. James Stretch filed a petition challenging Kennedy’s spot on the ballot last Thursday,

Registrations jumped following Biden's announcement on July 21 and the month ended with 3,793 registrations, the most of any month in the past year with the exception of November 2023.

Representatives of former Harvard University professor Cornel West’s third-party bid for president told the secretary of state that the campaign’s decentralized nature likely contributed to petitioners allegedly exceeding the maximum number of petition signatures set in state law and people saying they were misled.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows heard requests to get independent candidate for president Dr. Cornel West off the ballot Wednesday.

Maine has seen a marked increase in new voter registrations since President Joe Biden dropped out of the upcoming presidential race on July 21 and subsequently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, with particular spikes in the two weeks immediately following.

One supporter said he was hired to collect signatures for the longshot progressive candidate, but stopped after he realized it was part of Republican efforts to elect former President Donald Trump.

AUGUSTA, Maine (WABI) - A challenge hearing began for Cornel West, a independent running for president, in Augusta this afternoon. In an effort to get on the ballot in Maine, West was required to collect signatures on petitions throughout the state.

The plaintiffs claim Gov. Mills and Democratic leaders in the Legislature violated the Maine Constitution. The court says they don't have the grounds to sue.

The second challenge is the “Gass Challenge,” filed by Anne Gass of Gray and Sandra Marquis of Lewiston. They argue that the petition is invalid as a result of fraud: “more specifically, that one or more circulators deceived voters as to the nature of the petition,” reads the hearing notice sent to West’s campaign.