An Act To Clarify Recounts in Municipal Elections
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §2530-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 255, §§3 to 5, is repealed.
Sec. 2. 30-A MRSA §2532, as amended by PL 2017, c. 191, §2, is further amended to read:
§ 2532. Referendum recount procedure
In the case of a referendum, a recount must be granted upon written application of 10% or 100, whichever is less, of the registered voters in the municipality. The application must designate a contact person, with the person's mailing address, residential address and telephone number, who is to be considered the official representative of those registered voters with regard to the referendum. The time limits, rules and all other matters applying to candidates under section 2531-B apply equally to applicants for the recount. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the method of conducting a referendum recount is governed by Title 21-A, section 737-A. An official representative from the opposing side of a referendum issue is determined by the first submittal of an affidavit signed by 10 registered voters in the municipality.
All election materials in any way involved in the election and all records required by law to be kept in connection with the election must be available for inspection.
Disputed ballots may be resolved by the official representatives or their legal representatives. If both opposing sides do not have an official representative or legal representative designated, disputed ballots must remain unresolved. Unresolved disputed ballots or challenged ballots may not be included in the recount and must be segregated and secured with other voted ballots. If the number of unresolved disputed or challenged ballots affects the result of the recount, the matter must be sent to the Supreme Judicial Court in accordance with Title 21-A, section 737-A, subsection 10.
summary
This bill repeals the law governing a candidate's inspection of ballots and incoming voting lists and amends the law governing the referendum recount procedure to provide for establishing official representatives of both sides of a referendum issue, determining the date of the recount, the hand recount of votes, the availability of election materials for inspection, the resolution of disputed ballots, the resealing of recounted ballots and certification of the election results.