John Clifford, Ronald McGowan and Jason Nein work together to deliver ballots to the Maine Department of Public Safety on Friday, November 8. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Nine Maine House races and two state Senate races are headed for recounts, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows announced Wednesday evening.

There are no mandatory recounts in Maine, but candidates can request one in statewide races that have a margin of 1.5 percent or less between the two candidates. If the margin is higher, the candidates have to put a deposit on their application which is refunded if the results are in their favour.

“In a recount, each candidate’s representatives and staff members from the Secretary of State’s Department manually review each paper ballot to determine the official vote count,” the secretary’s office said in an emailed statement. “Ballots have been or will be picked up by law enforcement members of the Secretary of State’s Department of Enforcement Services Division and delivered to the recognition site, where they are stored in a secure room.”

Counting will begin Friday and is scheduled to continue through Nov. 25 in the Florian Hall at 45 Commerce Dr. in Augusta. The procedure is open to the public.

Maine House District 141

The race between Republican Rep. Lucas Lanigan and Democrat Patricia Kidder for the House District 141 seat representing Shapleigh, Newfield, Sanford and Springvale will go into a recount on Nov. 21 after the race ended in a tie.

Lanigan was charged with aggravated assault with domestic violence just days before the election. He is accused of assaulting his wife last month after finding him in a Springvale Safe Storage facility with another woman, according to court documents. The arrest warrant states he grabbed his wife by the neck and choked her for about 20 seconds before she was able to walk away and call friends for help.

Sanford Police issued a warrant and sought a weekend before Lanigan turned himself in at the York County Jail on Oct. 28. the wife pleaded with the judge and prosecutors to drop the case, but prosecutors said it is common for victims to recant and they would proceed with charges.

Democratic lawmakers asked Lanigan to drop out of the race, but he stayed in and he finished tied with his opponent — 2,476 to 2,476. Both candidates had the right to request a recount, and if the recount found they were still tied, the state would hold a special election.

Locked blue metal boxes containing ballots or memory devices are seen during ranked-choice voting for the 2nd Congressional District race Tuesday in Augusta. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says she expects results by the end of the week. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

OTHER LEGISLATIVE RACES TOMORROW

The first scheduled recount, scheduled for Friday, is in House District 96 in Lewiston, where Michael Lajoie holds a 36-vote lead over Kerryl Clement.

Other coverage includes the House District 98 race between Guy Lebida and Kilton Webb in the Topsham area and House District 81 in the Bethel area, where Joan Beal and Peter Wood are separated by 0.34 percent.

The recount in the House District 58 race between Sharon Frost and Daniel Newman will take place on November 19, as will the House District 75 recount for candidates Stephan Bunker and Randall Gauvin.

A recount was also called for in the House District 52 race between Sally Cluchey and David Guilmette, who were vying to represent Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Richmond and Perkins Island Township. Official results show Cluchey with 2,748 votes and Guilmette with 2,732.

The recount for House District 44, which includes Hope, Union and Warren, will take place on November 20. In that race, William Pluecker leads Ray Thombs by 362 votes, for a margin of 7.1 percent. That’s the largest margin of votes between the candidates in any legislative race scheduled for recounts.

A second recount involving the Sanford candidates is scheduled for Nov. 21. In that race, House District 142 Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio leads Amy Bell by 64 votes.

Counting will conclude with the races for Senate District 8 in northern Penobscot County and Senate District 15 in the Augusta area. In Senate District 8, there is a 0.58 percent difference in votes between Michael Tipping and Leo Kenney. Richard Bradstreet and Raegan LaRochelle are separated by 0.93 percent in Senate District 15.

2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF TOMORROW

Very contested and expensive The U.S. House race between Democratic incumbent Rep. Jared Golden and Republican challenger Austin Theriault has entered a ranked-choice round. Golden led by 2,159 votes, but because neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff began Tuesday afternoon. Officials expect it to wrap up Thursday or Friday.

Theriault’s campaign had requested a recount before Bellows announced the runoff. The recount cannot be formally requested until after the recount is complete.

However, Theriault’s campaign manager, Shawn Roderick, told the Press Herald on Tuesday that if the race remains as close as it was after the runoff and Theriault is not declared the winner, the campaign will consider a request for a recount.

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