Maine's school consolidation law will stay on the books. The Associated Press is projecting that the effort to repeal the controversial law has gone down to defeat.

With just over half of precincts reporting, voters were rejecting the repeal effort by a vote of 60 to 40 percent. Supporters of the repeal had complained that the law is unfair and hasn't worked. But opponents said repealing the law would be too costly.

According to the AP, 98 school districts have been consolidated into 26 since the law was enacted two years ago, but 126 rural districts have not complied.