For Immediate Release
November 18, 2004
Contact: Dan A. Gwadosky
207-626-8400

Recounts Completed in House Districts 82, 89 and 146

AUGUSTA, MAINE – Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky announced on Thursday that recounts of results from the November General Election in House Districts 82, 89 and 146 have been conducted and completed under the supervision of the Secretary of State's Office.

At the conclusion of the recount in House District 82, Patrick Flood (R) of Winthrop remained the winner by a margin of 134 votes.  William MacDonald (D) of Winthrop requested the recount after preliminary results from Election Day indicated he lost the election.  The recount determined that 2,744 votes were cast for Flood, while 2,610 were cast for MacDonald.

In the House District 89 recount, Janet Mills (D) of Farmington remained the winner by a margin of 65 votes.  Lance Harvell (R) of Farmington requested the recount after preliminary results from Election Day indicated he lost the election.  The recount determined that 2,329 votes were cast for Mills, while 2,264 were cast for Harvell.

In the House District 146 recount, Richard Brown (R) of South Berwick remained the winner by a margin of 93 votes.  Adam Scharff (D) of South Berwick requested the recount after preliminary results from Election Day indicated he lost the election.  The recount determined that 2,542 votes were cast for Brown, while 2,449 were cast for Scharff.

All seventeen General Election recounts are being conducted in a secure State Police building on Hospital Street in Augusta.  Recounts are a public proceeding and members of the media may attend to observe.  State law requires the State Police to collect the ballots for the recounts and keep them in the secured State Police facility until the recounts have been completed.  The ballots are stored in tamperproof metal containers and are closed with specially numbered security seals and locks.

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.  Recounts are requested based upon the unofficial initial results.

If a recount produces enough disputed ballots to affect the outcome of the election, the Maine House of Representatives would determine which candidate to seat in House races.  The Maine State Senate would determine which candidate to seat in State Senate races.  The Supreme Judicial Court would make a determination in County races.

A list of all recounts and scheduling information accompanies this press release.  Recounts in House Districts 42 and 43, which began on Friday, have been continued until later this week.  The same is true for the recount of House District 139, which started on Monday.

Recount Requests and Schedule

NOTE: The first candidate listed in each race was the apparent losing candidate on Election Day--based on unofficial results--and is therefore the candidate who requested the recount.