Maine Secretary of State: Ballot recount will cost taxpayers $500K
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Opponents of two voter-approved measures have until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to request a statewide recount of Questions 1 and 2.
The deadline for opponents to request a statewide recount on the voter-approved measures to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and a tax on Maine’s highest earners to boost public school funding is Wednesday at 5 p.m., and if approved, the recount will be time-consuming and expensive for taxpayers.
Secretary of State Matt Dunlap told Maine Public that the recount of almost 770,000 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.
“It’s because something got missed or something got transposed in a number or tabulation sheet or something like that,” Dunlap told Maine Public. “Rarely do you discover new ballots that weren’t counted; that almost never happens.”
The Associated Press reported that Question 1, the effort to legalize recreational marijuana, passed by less than a fraction of a percentage point while Question 2, which adds a 3% tax on Maine's highest earners to establish a fund that supports K-12 public schools, passed by less than 1%, according to the AP.
Photo: KOMUnews/Flickr
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