Secretary Dunlap announces ballot recounts for House Districts 78 & 121

AUGUSTA - Two recounts of ballots cast have been requested and scheduled for the office of State Representative in Districts 78 and 121, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced Wednesday.

• Candidate Benjamin Twitchell III (R) submitted his formal request for the House District 78 recount on Tuesday, Nov. 15. This district includes the Town of Winslow and part of the Town of Benton. Unofficial preliminary results show a difference of 148 votes between him and candidate Catherine M. Nadeau (D).
  
• Candidate Gary Drinkwater (R) submitted his formal request for the House District 121 recount on Tuesday, Nov. 15. This district includes the towns of Alton, Corinth, Hudson and Milford, plus the unorganized territory of Argyle Township. Unofficial preliminary results show a difference of 22 votes between him and candidate Robert Duchesne (D).

The recounts are scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week, in the Florian Room of the Maine Department of Public Safety Building, 45 Commerce Drive in Augusta:

**House District Recounts** - to view recount schedule: http://www.maine.gov/sos/news/2016/recountsdistrict78-121.html 

Recounts are a public proceeding. House District recounts are typically completed in one day. In a recount, the representatives of each candidate and staff members from the Department of the Secretary of State manually review each ballot to determine the official vote tally. Results of the recount will be posted on the Maine Department of the Secretary of State website and Facebook page and released to the media via email. State law requires the State Police to collect the ballots for the recount and keep them in a secure State Police facility until the recount has been completed. The ballots are stored in tamperproof metal containers and are closed with specially numbered security seals and locks.

Secretary Dunlap Announces Official Results of 2016 Primary Election

Augusta, Maine - The official results of the June 14, 2016 State Primary Election are now available, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced Friday.

Maine law requires the Secretary of State to tabulate the election returns and submit them to the governor within 20 days after an election. Governor Paul LePage signed the election results Friday.

The full election results are now posted on the Maine Department of the Secretary of State's Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions website at http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/results/index.html .

The State of Maine recognizes three political parties: Democratic, Green Independent and Republican. The primary election determined each party's candidates for various offices, including: Representative to Congress (both districts), all 35 State Senate districts, all 151 State Representative districts; and the following county offices, which vary depending on the county: Judge of Probate, Register of Probate, County Treasurer, Register of Deeds, Sheriff, District Attorney and County Commissioner.

Winners in these races will represent their political parties in the Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 General Election.

Secretary Dunlap announces ballot order of referendum questions

**AUGUSTA** - The ballot order of the five citizens' initiative questions that will appear on the Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 Referendum Election ballot is now finalized, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced Monday.

The order of these citizens' initiative questions on the ballot was determined by a random drawing Monday morning, which was open to the public. Below is the order of the initiatives, as they will appear on the ballot:

**QUESTION 1: An Act To Legalize Marijuana.** "Do you want to allow the possession and use of marijuana under state law by persons who are at least 21 years of age, and allow the cultivation, manufacture, distribution, testing, and sale of marijuana and marijuana products subject to state regulation, taxation and local ordinance?"

**QUESTION 2: An Act To Establish The Fund to Advance Public Kindergarten to Grade 12 Education.** "Do you want to add a 3% tax on individual Maine taxable income above $200,000 to create a state fund that would provide direct support for student learning in kindergarten through 12th grade public education?"

**QUESTION 3: An Act to Require Background Checks for Gun Sales.** "Do you want to require background checks prior to the sale or transfer of firearms between individuals not licensed as firearms dealers, with failure to do so punishable by law, and with some exceptions for family members, hunting, self-defense, lawful competitions, and shooting range activity?"

**QUESTION 4: An Act to Raise the Minimum Wage.** "Do you want to raise the minimum hourly wage of $7.50 to $9 in 2017, with annual $1 increases up to $12 in 2020, and annual cost-of-living increases thereafter; and do you want to raise the direct wage for service workers who receive tips from half the minimum wage to $5 in 2017, with annual $1 increases until it reaches the adjusted minimum wage?"

**QUESTION 5: An Act To Establish Ranked-Choice Voting.** "Do you want to allow voters to rank their choices of candidates in elections for U.S. Senate, Congress, Governor, State Senate, and State Representative, and to have ballots counted at the state level in multiple rounds in which last-place candidates are eliminated until a candidate wins by majority?"

The full text of each proposed bill is available for viewing on the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions' Citizens' Initiatives webpage at http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/citizens/index.html , along with proponent information. Per Maine law, bond issues must appear after the citizens' initiatives on the ballot. One bond issue will be on the Nov. 8, 2016 ballot:

**An Act To Authorize a General Fund Bond Issue To Improve Highways, Bridges and Multimodal Facilities.** "Do you favor a $100,000,000 bond issue for construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation of highways and bridges and for facilities, equipment and property acquisition related to ports, harbors, marine transportation, freight and passenger railroads, aviation, transit and bicycle and pedestrian trails, to be used to match an estimated $137,000,000 in federal and other funds?"

For more information about the November 2016 elections, visit http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/upcoming/index.html . Information on voter registration and locating your polling place can also be found on the Corporations, Elections and Commissions website at http://maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/voter-info/index.html .