Secretary of State Shenna bellows announced Friday that a recount has been requested for the State Senate District 24 Democrat primary race.
The recount will take place at 1pm on Thursday, June 20, in Augusta at 45 Commerce Drive, Suite 13 and will be open to the public.
Candidates Denise Tepler and Jean Guzzetti were separated by just 24 votes, or about .66 percent. Tepler came out ahead with 1822 votes, and Guzzetti was found to have trailed slightly behind with 1798 votes following the June 11 primary.
Recounts are not mandatory by state law, but they may be requested by a candidate free of charge if the apparent margin of victory is less than 1 percent in statewide or multi-county races or less than 1.5 percent for legislative or single county races.
If the apparent margin of victory is greater than this, Maine State Law requires candidates for legislative or single county offices to pay a deposit between $500 and $10,000 for a recount. Should the original result be overturned, this deposit would be returned to the candidate.
Candidates for statewide or multi-county races would need to pay $5,000 or “10 percent of the reasonable estimate of the cost to the State of performing the first stage of the recount,” whichever is greater.
If the recount does not change the results of the election, the candidate would need to pay the remainder of the State’s cost for conducting the recount. Just as with legislative and single county offices, however, if the recount does overturn the results of the election, their deposit is returned.
Click Here to Read the State Statute Governing Recounts
“In a recount, the representatives of each candidate and staff members from the Department of the Secretary of State manually review each paper ballot to determine the official vote tally,” Sec. Bellows explained in her press release Friday.
According to Bellows, the ballots will be retrieved by law enforcement officials from the Department of the Secretary of State’s Enforcement Services Division and brought to the recount site where they will be stored in a secured room.
“All ballots are stored in tamperproof metal containers and are closed with specially numbered security seals and locks,” Bellows wrote.
Click Here to Read Sec. Bellows’ Full Press Release
Senate District 24 encompasses all of Sagadahoc County, as well as Dresden in Lincoln County.
Both candidates white, middle age liberals where it really won’t matter which one gets the nod, that area of Maine is now gone.
Why waste the time or effort? Frick or Frack-no difference here!