A formal recount of Maine’s election results on recreational cannabis legalization is set to begin Monday and is expected to take four to six weeks and cost the state up to half a million dollars.
Question 1, the formal name of the Maine rec initiative, was approved by less than a 1% margin of votes cast on Election Day, and cannabis opponents seized on that as a possible way to negate its passage.
The recount will take place at the Maine Department of Public Safety in Augusta, the Portland Press Herald reported, and will be open to the public.
According to unofficial results from the secretary of state’s office, Question 1 was approved 381,692 to 377,619, a difference of only 4,073 votes.
Unless Question 1 is overturned, recreational use and possession of cannabis will become legal in Maine by Jan. 7 for anyone 21 or older.
