The fate of Maine’s pioneering experiment in democracy now rests with one man. U.S. District Judge Lance Walker aims to rule Thursday on whether to pause the count of ballots in the 2nd Congressional District contest between U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin and Democratic challenger Jared Golden — the country’s first congressional race to use ranked-choice voting. The Republican congressman and three of his supporters sued Tuesday claiming that the method of voting that Mainers approved in 2016 violates the U.S.