Max Linn gives Tiffany Bond a helping hand in fight to get on the ballot - Lewiston Sun Journal

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Independent U.S. Senate candidate Max Linn offered a helping hand Friday to another potential contender in the race.

Tiffany Bond and Max Linn Submitted photos

Linn, a Bar Harbor businessman, submitted an affidavit in support of Portland lawyer Tiffany Bond’s request to a federal district court to lower statutory signature requirements and put her on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.

Bond gathered at least 2,700 signatures, she said, but could not reach the 4,000 required because of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic that made it difficult for her corps of volunteers to find people willing to sign and to have the paperwork notarized and reviewed by town clerks whose offices were sometimes closed. Bond argued the state should have made allowances for candidates who made good faith efforts to comply under the circumstances.

Taking note of Bond’s refusal to accept any campaign donations, Linn told the U.S. District Court that “having another candidate on the ballot that is not backed by big corporations or the multimillion-dollar war chests of the political parties will be an absolute benefit to Maine voters.”

The other independent in the contest, Lisa Savage of Solon, also backs Bond’s effort to secure a spot on the ballot in a race that pits four-term U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, against the winner of the Democratic primary on July 14. Three Democrats are vying for their party’s support, Bre Kidman of Saco, Sara Gideon of Freeport and Betsy Sweet of Hallowell.

Linn said there is “an absolute bias” against candidates who are not aligned with the GOP or the Democrats. They are, for instance, required to gather twice as many signatures to reach the ballot.

Bond said if she only needed the 2,000 signers that Collins and the Democrats rounded up, she would not have had to go to court.

In a ranked-choice voting election such as the Senate race, voters may be more inclined to vote for independents first since if their favored candidate falls short, their ballots are redistributed to their second choice candidate, a system that largely eliminates the “spoiler effect” that has traditionally held down tallies for third party and independent contenders.

It is unclear when the district court might rule on Bond’s request for a ballot spot.

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