In a one-sentence order, three judges on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that the request doesn’t show Poliquin “to have a strong likelihood of success on the merits.”

While Poliquin’s broader appeal of a lower court ruling is still alive, the rejection is the latest blow against his legal case challenging the ranked-choice voting process that ended with Golden, a Democrat, unseating the two-term Republican incumbent.

Poliquin received the most votes on Election Day but failed to win a majority required to avoid a ranked-choice runoff against Golden and two independents in the race, Tiffany Bond and William Hoar. Golden defeated Poliquin by more than 3,500 votes following the runoff, but the Republican continues to challenge the constitutionality of the ranked-choice system approved by Maine voters twice at the ballot box.

A U.S. District Court judge in Bangor rejected those constitutional concerns in a strongly worded ruling on Dec. 13. So on Tuesday, Poliquin’s lawyers asked the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston to grant an “emergency injunction” preventing Golden’s certification as they appeal U.S. District Judge Lance Walker’s ruling.

“In the absence of injunctive relief maintaining the status quo, the state may certify the election results before this court can consider plaintiffs’ claims, thereby permanently depriving them of the ability to vindicate their constitutional rights to a constitutionally compliant election and election results,” the attorneys wrote in their initial filing.

An attorney for the state countered that Secretary of State Matt Dunlap had already certified Golden as the winnerand sent that paperwork to the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, albeit without Gov. Paul LePage’s signature.

“Under the U.S. Constitution, it is now up to the United States House of Representatives to determine, when it convenes on January 3, 2019, whether to seat Jared Golden, who is the undisputed winner of the ranked-choice voting tabulation under the RCV Act and thus the Representative-elect for Maine’s Second Congressional District,” Assistant Attorney General Phyllis Gardiner wrote on Dunlap’s behalf.