A week after the statewide June 13 referendum on a $50 million bond to boost the state’s investment in research and development, Secretary of State Matt Dunlap finally revealed Tuesday that the unofficial tally of votes shows it passed 62% to 38%.
In a news released issued Wednesday, Dunlap reported the certified election results show a total of 63,468 votes in favor of the bond issue and 39,549 votes in opposition. Voters cast a total of 104,213 ballots in this single-question statewide referendum, with 1,196 blanks.
Gov. Paul LePage signed the official vote proclamation on Wednesday.
With the bond’s approval, $45 million would go into the Maine Technology Asset Fund managed by the Maine Technology Institute.
The remaining $5 million would go to the Maine Venture Fund, a 20-year-old revolving state venture fund intended to support early-stage companies with the potential to scale and significantly contribute to Maine’s prosperity, according to the MVF website. The fund is administered by the Finance Authority of Maine and the investments that are made would also need to be matched at least 1:1 by other funding sources, though MVF’s experience has been an almost 9:1 match.
The legislation will become law on July 21, 30 days from the date of the official proclamation.
