It looks as if a recount is now a possibility. One glimmer of hope: there are uncounted votes from Cumberland County, which includes parts of Portland. The city voted 73 - 27 percent for keeping marriage rights. A reader writes:
I'm nervously watching the Q1 results. I was involved in the Q4 discrimination referendum years ago and was a team leader for the Obama campaign. Even though we moved to Texas this summer, I have been making calls to Maine. I am not surprised by the results so far. From my perspective the challenge was always to get a sufficiently high voter turnout in friendly towns in Southern Maine to offset the rest of the state. Knox is very encouraging. I am quite concerned about York as we normally count on it to counter northern Maine--looks like Biddeford, Saco, and Sanford are driving the Yes votes--all highly Catholic towns.
Another Maine reader notes:
Kittery, and York are likely to follow the pattern of Eliot, Wells, or even Kennebunkport, all neighboring towns. That said, compare the 3 Berwicks and you can see how the differences can swing by 10% or more within 10 miles...