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November 17, 2016

It's on: Opponents request Questions 1, 2 recount

Courtesy / KOMUnews, Flickr Opponents of two voter-approved measures have requested a statewide recount of Questions 1 and 2.

Opponents of the legalization of recreational marijuana and a tax on Maine's highest earners to boost public school funding submitted recount requests just two hours before the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

Kristen Muszynski, spokeswoman for Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, told the Bangor Daily News that a recount date has yet to be set. Over 770,000 ballots were cast in Maine, but because some precincts use computerized-tabulation machines, not all of the ballots will have to go through the recount process.

The secretary of state’s unofficial vote tallies released by Muszynski show just how close the vote was. According to the BDN, Question 1, the effort to legalize recreational marijuana, received 381,692 yes votes and 377,619 no votes: the difference is slightly over 4,000 votes.

Question 2, which adds a 3% tax on Maine's highest earners to establish a fund that supports K-12 public schools, received 383,449 votes in favor and 373,913 in opposition: the difference is over 9,500 votes, the BDN reported.

As reported Wednesday, Dunlap told Maine Public that the recount of the ballots will cost taxpayers approximately $500,000 and take about six work weeks to complete. He added that if history is any indicator, it's unlikely any large error will be discovered.

Photo: KOMUnews/Flickr

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