AUGUSTA, Maine - The recount of the ballot question that would allow the recreational use of marijuana in Maine is underway in Augusta.
Secretary of State Matt Dunlap says it could take months to complete if all of the nearly 760,000 ballots that were cast are recounted. He says the apparent winning margin of 4,073 will be hard to overturn.
“You would have to have not less than somewhere between four and eight votes change in every town, and they all would have to change in your direction,” Dunlap says.
At best, Dunlap says 25,000 ballots a day can be counted. With the upcoming holidays, Dunlap says if all ballots are re-counted it will be January before it's completed.
Moreover, he says if new citizen initiatives are filed - and several petitions are being circulated - a court ruling gives processing those the priority and could delay completion of recounting the ballots that were cast on Question One.
