Section 250-536-4 - PREPARATION FOR RECOUNTS1.Designating State Recount PersonnelA.Recount Supervisor. The recount will be conducted under the supervision of the Secretary of State, or his or her designee, who is called the Recount Supervisor. The Recount Supervisor will direct and oversee the conduct of the recount according to the laws, rules and procedures governing the conduct of the recount and the conduct of elections.B.Recount Assistants. The Secretary of State will provide the necessary number of Department staff to act as Recount Assistants. The Recount Supervisor will assign one Recount Assistant to each counting team and will assign Recount Assistants to other tasks as necessary.2.Notice of Public Proceeding. The recount is a public proceeding and members of the press and the general public may attend, although space may be limited. The Secretary of State will provide notice to the public regarding each recount, including information about scheduling.3.Collection and Storage of Ballots and Election Materials. Upon receiving a request for a recount, the State Police will collect the ballots and other election materials as requested by the Secretary of State in accordance with this section of these rules. The State Police will deliver these materials to a secure storage area under the control of the State Police or the Secretary of State. The Recount Supervisor and Secretary of State staff will have access to the secure storage area to organize and log the materials prior to the start of the recounts. While the recounts are being conducted, the Recount Supervisor and Recount Assistants will maintain control over the ballots and other recount materials. No recount personnel will have access to the areas where ballots are stored unless accompanied by at least one other authorized person. At the conclusion of the recounts, the Recount Supervisor will return the recount materials to the secure storage area to be held until the materials are returned to the applicable municipalities by the State Police.4.Materials Available at the RecountA.Automatic retrieval: The State Police will retrieve the following materials which will be made available for inspection at the recount: the used state ballots, including voted and counted ballots; spoiled, defective and void ballots that were segregated and not counted; and envelopes containing challenge certificates.B.Staged retrieval: For a recount of an election or nomination for a statewide or multi-county office, the Recount Supervisor may direct the State Police to retrieve ballots from certain designated voting jurisdictions so that the recount may be conducted in stages until the requesting candidate concedes or until all the ballots are recounted. In determining how to stage the retrieval and recounting of ballots, the Recount Supervisor will consider any requests that may be made by the recount candidates or their representatives regarding the selection or sequencing of voting jurisdictions to be recounted. C.Retrieval upon request: The State Police will not retrieve unused state ballots, absentee envelopes and applications, incoming voting lists or any local ballots unless requested to do so by the Recount Supervisor. These materials will be collected if a recount of the used state ballots in any municipalities within the electoral district results in a significant discrepancy from the election night tally and makes it necessary to retrieve any or all of these election materials from those municipalities in order to reach a final tabulation and conclude the recount. The Recount Supervisor will make the determination regarding the collection of these additional materials, in consultation with the recount candidates or their representatives.5.Scheduling Recounts and Counters A.Recount schedule. The Recount Supervisor will set the schedule for the recounts. Each recount will begin promptly at the assigned time and will resume promptly after the time allotted for lunch and breaks has concluded. While recounts will normally be conducted during regular business hours, a recount may be continued after 5 p.m. with the agreement of the participating candidates or their counsel. The Recount Supervisor has authority to continue the recount to the next available business day, however, even if the participating candidates or their counsel wish to continue the recount past 5 p.m.B.Counters. Each candidate will provide the number of counters required by the Recount Supervisor. At a minimum, six counters will be required for each candidate participating in the recount unless the Recount Supervisor determines that fewer counters are needed based on the number of ballots cast. If more than six counters are needed, the Recount Supervisor will notify the candidates or their representatives of the number of counters to be supplied. Candidates and certain other persons, as designated in 21-A M.R.S.A. §737-A, sub-§5, are prohibited from participating in the recounts in any capacity. It is not recommended that the counsel for a candidate act as a counter, although it is not prohibited. 29- 250 C.M.R. ch. 536, § 4