A formal recount of the Nov. 8 election results in Maine, including the initiative that would legalize adult-use cannabis, is now on the way.
The Maine secretary of state has certified the signatures on a pair of recount petitions that target the marijuana ballot measure as well as an educational tax, and the office is now figuring out logistics to complete the recount, the Portland Press Herald reported.
Question 1, the rec legalization measure, won by just 4,073 votes, less than 1% of the more than 700,000 votes cast on Election Day. Maine joined California, Massachusetts and Nevada in legalizing recreational marijuana on Nov. 8.
The recount itself will likely take more than a month, so finalized election results probably won’t be available until late December or early 2017.
But, as the newspaper noted, “It would be highly unusual for a recount to change the outcome of a statewide election.” Which means rec will almost certainly become the law of the land in Maine.
